Return of the Antagonistic Lady Boss-Chapter 600 - 574: Behind the Scenes and Confessions
"Imported from D Country?" Qian was so busy finding something to wipe him with, worrying he might catch a cold. The towel she brought had gotten wet during her shower at night, so she went to Auntie’s and bought one.
"Yes, when I used it, I felt it’s very absorbent, so I took a closer look. Look at this label, doesn’t it say it’s in R language?" Yu Minglang showed the towel label to Qian.
Indeed, it really is. It’s very soft and absorbent.
"This thing is really absorbent. I’m not going to criticize you for buying foreign goods and being overly fascinated with foreign things this time, but don’t let it happen again!"
Yu Minglang deliberately said this. He knew that after saying it, Qian’s personality would make her give him a playful smack, protest his male chauvinism, then beat him up and the pre-marital fear would be sidestepped.
But unexpectedly, Qian was frowning, flipping the towel back and forth.
"What’s up?"
"I bought this from Auntie, 5 yuan each."
"From Auntie?" Yu Minglang also found it strange. In such a remote area where no one stays over all year, how could there be such a thing?
"Yes, I just bought it without looking carefully because I was in a hurry. You mentioned it, I looked closely, and it’s indeed the famous Baiyun brand. This brand is extremely good in the island nation, the kind of towel best suited for women and infants, without fluorescent agents, but quite expensive. If bought now, it would probably cost twenty or thirty yuan."
Back then, even when raising Xiaowei and finances weren’t rich, she still insisted on buying this kind.
"I don’t like what you’re saying now. No matter how good things from the island nation are, can towels be viewed like flowers? Why can’t domestic products be used? Are you so influenced that you refuse domestic products just because you have a bit of money now? You’re infected with the evil capitalist pleasure mentality; it has to be changed. In my family, all the kids use towels issued by the company; look at us, did anyone’s face get ruined?"
Qian glared at him, is he being contrary, being a stickler?
Yu Minglang hit himself lightly, "What I mean is that appropriately absorbing advanced foreign production techniques is not necessarily wrong—no, the point of our discussion isn’t this. The point is—"
"How come Auntie has this?"
The two spoke in unison.
Yu Minglang and Qian exchanged a glance, and Qian stood up.
"You wait inside; I’ll go ask."
This is a farmyard house similar to a courtyard house, initially built with united funding from above. Qian and the others stay in a detached guest house, while Auntie’s family lives across from them, in the main house that stays empty at night but is used for dining during the day.
When Qian walked over, she happened to see Auntie sitting on a small stool outside washing her feet.
"Girl, why aren’t you sleeping yet?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
"Well, I just noticed your towels are quite good and wondered if I could buy another one to take back to my mom."
"Ah! Wait here! Hey, old man, take out another towel!" Hearing she could make some money, Auntie’s face blossomed into a grin.
Grandpa soon came over holding an unopened towel.
"Auntie, this towel is really good. Selling it for 5 yuan, aren’t you losing money?" Qian held the towel, casually asking.
"Not losing, not losing. This was brought back by our Zhiming when he went down to get supplies. I didn’t see it listed on the invoice, probably given as a bonus—" Grandpa was interrupted by Auntie before he could finish.
"Go check if our cat’s come back yet, don’t blabber. Can bonus towels have such good quality? Girl, don’t listen to him. We bought these for stocking, they have costs. If they didn’t, I’d have given them to you directly. How could I take your money honestly?"
"Got it, thank you."
Qian turned back into the house.
Auntie angrily finished washing her feet and whispered fiercely inside, "Your brain must’ve been kicked by a donkey; who does business like this, letting people know they’re freebies, will they still buy?"
"It was just extra when stocking... How can you fool people like that?"
Fool = deceive, a local dialect slang.
"How do you do business without fooling people?"
Grandpa was filled with anger having been scolded by Auntie, had nowhere to vent, so he angrily went into the son’s room and saw the second son, Zhiming, not yet asleep, playing with his basket of snakes, and immediately kicked him.
"Useless at everything, wanting to eat it all, you failed university, don’t know how to do business. If your brother were still alive, would he be as useless as you? Tomorrow, I’ll throw your pet snake out! The family’s fortune is all spoiled by this stupid snake, pfft!"
This kind of house isn’t soundproof, so Qian could hear the child being scolded even from her room, and she slightly frowned.
"What’s wrong?" Yu Minglang asked Qian.
"Raising children, the most taboo is Grandpa’s method, using one child to compare with another; this hurts a child’s mind greatly. We shouldn’t educate our children like this in the future. Every child is unique and shouldn’t be compared to each other."
Yu Minglang thought to himself, I intend to have kids with you, provided you marry me, though.
The topic of marriage now is a minefield, he dared only think about it, shifting the topic back to the towel.
"Did you find out?"
"Looks like a freebie given with stock; Auntie doesn’t want to tell the truth, but I can see it." Qian is perceptive; Auntie’s petty tricks are plainly visible to her.
"What kind of stock comes with this kind of freebie..." Yu Minglang’s strong sixth sense kicked in again; he vaguely felt that there might be something deeper behind this towel.
But he didn’t think too much about it now, just asked Qian to pack the towel away, planning to ask someone back home about it.
Yu Minglang kept this detail in mind. Often, he wasn’t consciously seeking information; he just instinctively stored information when things seemed odd, which was part of his subconscious behavior. When any useful information was needed, his brain could rapidly retrieve it, sometimes with surprising effectiveness.
Some of his past achievements were attributed to detecting problems using a slight intuition, this time no exception, although that’s another story.
After the loud argument, they reconciled by morning, Qian and Yu Minglang made up again.
Even though he had already given up on solving her marriage fears through situational experience, since they were here, they might as well enjoy their time before leaving. Qian set three rules for him: no more circuitous paths, and don’t direct and act scenarios to annoy her.
Walking by the creek, Yu Minglang finally managed to ask the question he’d been holding all night.
"Qianbao, did you really forgive me like this?"
"Mhm."
"Why?" He felt Qianbao, known to repay grudges, forgave him so easily, which didn’t seem her style.
"Love is like sand in your hand; the more you expect, the greater the disappointment and harder it is to move on. I’ve seen many divorced women who separate not over issues of addiction, violence, or unequal asset distribution but simply because their partner couldn’t meet their expectations. How can one ensure the next marriage will meet these expectations? With men like you, I lower my expectations, freeing you and freeing myself, because—"
Where else could she find a fool who’d act so silly for her?
Yu Minglang just wanted to continue questioning when suddenly an unusual sound came from upstream, forcing him to pause the conversation with Qian, swiftly running towards the sound.
