Chapter 370: Chapter 368: Any Movement in the Belly Yet?
After Wang Shun left, Gu’er and Sun Jiaming called Liu Yuan. When they heard that everything at the mall was normal and business was good, they were relieved.
However, Liu Yuan told Gu’er that a two-story storefront across from their mall was being renovated. It looked like a high-quality job, and they were likely spending a lot of money on it. It seemed they were preparing to open a business.
Liu Yuan also told her that the mall had stimulated business in the surrounding area. The small shops and snack stalls were now doing very well. This new store was a sign that people with money were starting to invest in the area, and things would only get better in the future.
Gu’er wasn’t surprised. This was inevitable. If the mall’s business was good, it was bound to boost the surrounding economy. She just wondered what kind of store was opening.
But Gu’er didn’t dwell on it. No matter what opened, it wouldn’t affect their mall. They just needed to focus on running their own business well.
Three days after Gu’er and the others returned, Zheng Xinghua used the money Gu’er had funded her with to open a shop for custom-knitting sweaters and wool pants. The shop wasn’t large, and inside hung many sample sweaters that Zheng Xinghua had already knitted.
Zheng Xinghua seemed to have a special talent for this. She could learn any knitting pattern with just a glance and loved to experiment on her own, even coming up with a few new designs. She could now knit a wide variety of styles and was more than ready to run her own shop.
Zheng Zhongshan’s health was much better than before, though he was still taking traditional Chinese medicine to recuperate. He was now also at the mall, working as an accountant, though just as an intern.
Lin Shuying was also doing well at the mall. She and Li Hua were in charge of cleaning, which wasn’t too tiring. The food at the mall was good, as was the pay, so she was no longer tight on money.
As for Li Hua, Gu’er hadn’t seen her in nearly two months. However, Lin Shuying often updated Gu’er on her situation. Li Hua was certainly not having an easy time. Her three children were like a pack of wild animals, and her salary was never enough to cover the monthly expenses. Even so, she received no gratitude for her efforts. Lin Shuying often saw her with a troubled expression, but Gu’er had given clear instructions: unless Li Hua was on the verge of starvation, they were not to interfere. They would only step in when the Zhou family was no longer dragging Li Hua down.
Everything was peaceful. Gu’er and Sun Jiaming went to visit Chen Fengjiao. She was doing fine, living a rather leisurely life each day, which put Gu’er’s mind at ease.
Cao Qiu had visited once since their return. Although she wasn’t as grating to listen to as she used to be, her gaze kept drifting to Gu’er’s stomach.
Her staring made Gu’er a little uncomfortable. She knew exactly what Cao Qiu was thinking.
"Gu’er, you and Jia Ming have been married for almost half a year, right? Is there any news yet?"
Cao Qiu asked Gu’er directly. She had been waiting for good news for ages. Her eldest daughter-in-law hadn’t had any more children after giving birth to a girl, and she desperately wanted a grandson. She was anxious, pinning her hopes on Gu’er, but months had passed with no news.
"Mom, what’s the rush? Gu’er and I are still young. It wouldn’t be too late to have a child in another year or two."
Sun Jiaming spoke up on Gu’er’s behalf. Every time he visited Cao Qiu, she would pull him aside and ask if there was any news from Gu’er. Sun Jiaming had already told her they weren’t in a rush and begged his mother not to ask Gu’er about it. He never expected she would bring it up with her directly.
"What kind of talk is that? It’s a woman’s sacred duty to bear children and continue the family line. I’m just asking, telling you two to hurry it up. I didn’t say anything out of line."
Cao Qiu felt her son was being too protective of his wife.
"No one can predict when they’ll have a child. When it happens, it happens. There’s no need to be anxious about it."
Sun Jiaming was truly exasperated with his mother, but he knew this was typical of the older generation. Many mothers-in-law started watching their daughter-in-law’s belly the moment she married into the family. ’Thank goodness we don’t live together,’ he thought, ’or Gu’er would never be able to stand it.’
"Why don’t you two go to the hospital for a check-up? What if there’s some kind of problem?"
Cao Qiu was getting worried.
"Mom, it’s perfectly normal for a couple not to have a child for several years after marrying. That’s enough. Let’s not talk about this anymore."
Sun Jiaming didn’t want to continue the conversation.
Gu’er knew her own situation perfectly well. ’There’s nothing wrong with me,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, I couldn’t have given birth to Zhang Juan in my past life. The only reason I haven’t conceived is because I’ve been extremely careful, washing myself thoroughly right away each time.’
’But I’m not as afraid of having children as I used to be. The pain associated with Zhang Juan has faded, and the trauma my granddaughter caused has also slowly healed. I would even be willing to have Sun Jiaming’s child now. If I did, I would raise this child with all my heart and make sure they don’t turn out like another Zhang Juan.’
’But...?’
Gu’er suddenly remembered that the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse. Its dissolution would be followed by a year or two of chaos. That meant in the time leading up to it, they had to stock up on as many goods as possible and make more trips. Otherwise, their supply source would completely dry up. ’So, it’s better not to have a child right now,’ she decided. ’I’ll start planning a pregnancy after the Soviet Union officially announces its dissolution.’
Having made up her mind, Gu’er didn’t intervene in the conversation between Sun Jiaming and his mother. There were some things a son could say that a daughter-in-law couldn’t. While she wasn’t afraid of angering Cao Qiu, she didn’t want to put Sun Jiaming in an awkward position, so she just pretended not to hear.
Two days after Cao Qiu left, Li Zhi and Dingzi returned.
Seeing the large burlap sack, Gu’er’s and Sun Jiaming’s eyes lit up. It was undoubtedly full of money. With this haul, their financial worries immediately vanished.
However, the expressions on Li Zhi’s and Dingzi’s faces weren’t good. ’Did something happen?’ Gu’er wondered.
The group went inside.
"What’s wrong? Did you have trouble selling the goods?"
Sun Jiaming asked.
"The goods sold well enough, and we didn’t earn any less than last time. The problem is, we ran into someone trying to steal our business."
Li Zhi took a sip of the tea Gu’er had poured for him as he spoke, his expression grim.
"Steal our business? How?"
Gu’er clearly hadn’t expected this. They had two stalls now, one for wholesale and one for retail. Logically speaking, the market over there was huge, and every vendor sold slightly different things. Who would be trying to compete with them?
"After we arrived, the goods were selling quite well at first. But on the third day, someone else started selling white sugar too. Fine, let them sell it; it’s not like we have a monopoly. But their price was slightly lower than ours, and they had a huge supply. That’s just blatant poaching. If we didn’t already have two established, long-term stalls, we would have been hit hard right away. We’re not worried about selling the goods eventually, since our stalls can operate long-term and we have enough capital to keep shipping more product. But this was clearly targeted at us. It’s completely unethical."
Li Zhi said resentfully. He was genuinely furious this time. Those people were openly poaching their customers, undercutting them with a slightly lower price—not by much, just enough to be infuriating.
’Targeted at us?’
Gu’er frowned. Suddenly, she recalled Director Chen’s investigation into Lin Shan. ’Could it be...?’
"Did you find out who these people competing with us are? Are they from our city?"
"It’s that guy I told you about before. The one who approached Dingzi and me wanting to partner up, and we refused."
Li Zhi’s expression was grim. He had already figured out who it was, and knowing made him even angrier. He knew for a fact that they were being targeted.
