The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 409 - 398: "Returning from Fleeing Disaster

Lu Jingqiu’s New Year was quite pleasant; neither Zhang Ting nor her mom visited their home again.

After the New Year, Jiang Nanzhou was busy entertaining guests with either his father or his grandfather.

She didn’t need to worry about the two men, so she just took care of the child.

This year, she took Xiao Cheng to see Gao Qing and Wang Xiuya, and afterwards, they spent a few days together with the kids.

Every time Gao Qing saw her, she would grumble about various trifles with her in-laws.

Jingqiu could feel that she wasn’t that happy.

Fortunately, things were still okay between Gao Qing and her husband; it’s just that Ma Song loved to play a lot.

Now assigned to the Culture Bureau, he had started to get busy, while Gao Qing, a dance academy teacher, was still relatively free, becoming a virtuous little wife every day after returning home.

The most unexpected was when, shopping with Wang Xiuya in Capital City, they ran into Wu Zhengran at a mall. He was wearing a hat, covering himself tightly, and she almost didn’t recognize him.

She tentatively called out, "Wu Zhengran?"

Only then did Wu Zhengran turn his head and see Lu Jingqiu, also surprised and said with a smile, "Jingqiu, what a coincidence?"

"Yeah, why haven’t you gone home? You’re still in Capital City during the New Year."

"I was assigned here after graduation, and I’m on duty this New Year."

"?"

When old classmates meet, they should definitely have a good chat.

Wu Zhengran pointed to a small teahouse across from the mall and said, "Come on, let’s sit down. This... is this your child?"

"Yes, this is my friend, Comrade Wang Xiuya, and this is my son Xiao Cheng, say hello to Uncle."

"Hello, Uncle."

"Hello, Comrade Wu."

"Hello, hello."

Wu Zhengran hadn’t expected that in the blink of an eye, Jingqiu’s child had grown so big and could speak already.

The group left the mall for the teahouse. novelbuddy.cσ๓

Wu Zhengran boldly ordered the most expensive pot of tea, startling Lu Jingqiu, who quickly said, "We could’ve just ordered something simple."

Wu Zhengran laughed and said, "Why be polite? You still don’t know my temperament; if we have money, we should enjoy the best. Xiao Cheng, Comrade Wang, would you like some brown sugar glutinous rice cakes? I’ve ordered them for you."

Wang Xiuya felt somewhat embarrassed.

Jingqiu, on the side, knew that his business running a comic book store during school was quite successful, so she didn’t insist with her politeness.

"Where are you making a fortune now?"

"I was assigned to a printing factory here."

"Oh, you didn’t return to your hometown, huh. Quite lucky."

Wu Zhengran smiled and said, "What do you mean? I was assigned there, to the Railway Bureau, but I switched, moved here on my own."

Upon hearing this, Jingqiu was internally startled, but before she could speak, Wang Xiuya, eyes wide open, said, "Comrade Wu, the printing factory is not comparable to the Railway Bureau, are you..." She felt too embarrassed to say the words "absolutely crazy."

Wu Zhengran certainly knew, but...

It seemed that Jingqiu guessed something but still held back, simply saying, "This place is pretty good too; there are more people and more opportunities for development."

Wu Zhengran didn’t say anything, just nodded his head.

Regarding his decision to stay in Capital City, many relatives and friends thought he had gone mad.

Several good buddies understood him, and he believed that Lu Jingqiu did as well.

Lu Jingqiu felt uncomfortable inside, considering Wu Zhengran’s infatuation not worth it. She wanted to offer a few words of advice, but regretfully, she couldn’t tell him about her "previous life."

Being muddled by love, no amount of persuasion was of any use; let it be and hope that time would dilute his persistence.

During their chat at the teahouse, they discovered that in just half a year, he had become a key player at the local printing factory.

Considering Wu Zhengran’s career trajectory in her previous life, it seemed only natural.

He was indeed very formidable in this area.

...

This year, Lu Jingqiu returned on the sixth day of the new lunar year because their movie theater was reopening on the eighth.

After Jiang Nanzhou dropped them off, he stayed for two days before heading back.

The year had gone by, and there was still no news from Niannian and Manman.

It worried her sick.

Unable to stay calm at home, she could only go to Luo Xinyue’s place with her child in tow to vent and ease her own concerns.

Luo Xinyue felt her worry was superfluous, "How smart Niannian is, she wouldn’t get lost even if others did. Your sister is not bad either, didn’t she call you during the New Year?"

"She did, it was a telegram, saying she was safe but not where she was."

"I guess they’re off dealing with that sanitary pad thing. Niannian gets especially active when it comes to making money. Just wait," Luo Xinyue reassured.

"I hope so; I’m supposed to be back at work soon. I have no idea if they can make it back in the next few days."

While Lu Jingqiu was still worrying on the first day, Niannian and Manman finally arrived home late at night on the second day.

Lu Jingqiu had a belly full of questions, but seeing how dust-covered and exhausted Manman was, she refrained from asking more and quickly let her sleep.

It wasn’t until the next afternoon that the girl got out of bed.

By then, Xue Jianian had already come over to her house.

On seeing her, she gave her a big hug.

"You two, where have you been? Spending the whole New Year outside, you had me worried all year long."

Xue Jianian said, "Didn’t Manman tell you?"

"Tell me what? She said nothing."

Xue Jianian glanced around the room, not seeing Shen Manman’s figure, and asked, "Hasn’t she gotten up yet?"

"Not yet."

Xue Jianian hurriedly shared their shopping escapade over the past days, "Manman and I first went to Shanghai, got in touch with her client, and then took his boat to the countryside. The situation there, tsk tsk, was absurdly expensive. We both were scared to spend money, even shared meals to cut costs. At first, we found a hostel for fifty a day, which pained us immensely. Later, while waiting for the machinery, Manman found a good spot – their train station’s waiting room. We stayed there two nights. After purchasing the machinery, we hardly had any money left. When we reached Shanghai, in a rush to save time, we headed straight to Yangcheng City. We knew Second Older Brother Yang’s car frequently made trips there; and believe it or not, we actually found him."

"You two really are gutsy, sleeping at the train station for two nights. What if you had encountered bad people?"

"We didn’t dare sleep soundly. She took the first half of the night, I the second, and we’d nap during the day if there was nothing going on. But this trip, I must say, was quite an eye-opener. Makes me wonder if we’ll ever be like that place in the future."

Lu Jingqiu laughed, "Who knows, maybe one day we’ll even surpass that place. Did you really get the machinery?"

"Yes, we got one machine, which cost over ten thousand yuan."

"Just one? How many can it produce in a day?"

"One machine can produce several hundred a day. I wanted to buy two, but Manman said she didn’t have that much money. Besides, we weren’t sure about the quality since it was our first time using it. We decided to try one first."

"Ah, over ten thousand yuan... you two..."

Before Lu Jingqiu could finish, Shen Manman, looking dazed and squinting, came in from the door, "So, sister, could you lend me some money?"