Chapter Sixty: About to Begin Work

Jiang Luohan could actually play the piano as well, but Lin Miaomiao felt that Lin Langluan and Lin Langze probably didn’t enjoy it, so she refused to enroll them in piano lessons. Lin Langluan and Lin Langze suddenly realized that not attending school these past days was not as pleasant as they imagined; at school, at least, they could play with their classmates during breaks.

Instead, as soon as the holiday began, their sister Lin Miaomiao started making them study this and that, and every morning Uncle Lin Qi would wake them to practice martial arts. They still had to finish copying the five repetitions of books assigned by Li Yanhe whenever they had time. These days, Lin Langluan and Lin Langze had no leisure to play, forced to stay home and study.

Lin Miaomiao, on the other hand, never felt bored. Teaching two mischievous boys to draw, time slipped by quickly. When Li Yanhe returned, he happened to see Lin Langluan and Lin Langze in their Go lesson, and a handsome smile curved his lips.

Li Yanhe recalled the first time he played Five-in-a-Row with Lin Miaomiao. She kept losing and wondered how she could possibly lose so easily after playing for years. Upon seeing Li Yanhe return, Lin Miaomiao took the bundle from his hands, and the two went back to their room.

Li Yanhe had been quite exhausted these days. After the first successful attack, the barbarians believed they had found a way to counter tunnel warfare. Li Yanhe led a squad of soldiers to ambush nearby, and sure enough, the barbarians attacked the village again. But as the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole lurked behind.

Li Yanhe emerged victorious from this battle; the barbarian soldiers were captured. Lin Miaomiao knew that from now on, those captured soldiers would be slaves. Li Yanhe recounted the event lightly, but Lin Miaomiao understood that the fight was anything but easy. She had already instructed Cui Liu to boil water.

After Li Yanhe took a hot bath, Lin Miaomiao had already warmed the heated floor in his room, and his long hair lay draped over his shoulders. Lin Miaomiao watched as water dripped from his hair, sighed, and took the towel to gently dry his head.

When she was little, Lin Miaomiao loved braiding her cousin’s hair, finding a sense of accomplishment in it. She touched Li Yanhe’s hair—dark, long, and thick. Even when she combed it, it never tangled, and Lin Miaomiao felt a small pang of envy.

After untangling his hair with a comb and drying it bit by bit, Li Yanhe made no move to stop her. Their relationship was very close, and sometimes, it was odd how everyone assumed Lin Miaomiao was Li Yanhe’s betrothed child-bride.

When Lin Miaomiao considered her relationship with him, it seemed to have quietly transformed into that of family. She felt that intimacy between family members was nothing unusual.

Li Yanhe also enjoyed being cared for by Lin Miaomiao, yet neither had pierced the veil of unspoken feelings between them. After drying his hair, Lin Miaomiao saw Li Yanhe lying on the bed, tired. She said, “I had Cui Liu cook porridge. Drink it before you sleep.”

Li Yanhe nodded wearily. Lin Miaomiao left the room, took the porridge from Cui Liu, and served it to Li Yanhe.

She had made crystal sugar lotus leaf porridge for him. Li Yanhe was fond of sweets, though his palate was quite particular.

He liked sweet foods, but not those that stung the throat. Lin Miaomiao always gauged the sweetness carefully when cooking for him. If it was overly sweet, she wouldn’t bring it to him. After drinking the porridge, Li Yanhe felt warmth spread through his chest.

These days, leading soldiers in battle had drained him physically. Outwitting the barbarians had required both cunning and courage, and Lin Miaomiao genuinely felt for this man.

As Li Yanhe drifted to sleep, Lin Miaomiao cleared the bowl and quietly left his room.

Meanwhile, Lin Langluan and Lin Langze had finished their Go lesson and clung to Lin Miaomiao. She glanced at them and said, “Finish the arithmetic problems I assigned you this afternoon, and then you can go out and play.”

The arithmetic she gave them was simple; Lin Miaomiao had tutored elementary students before, so she was familiar with grade-school textbooks.

Her mathematics skills weren’t exceptional, but compared to this era, she was quite adept. She had learned mental calculation from a young age and later earned a bookkeeping certificate, so in this era, she could certainly be considered a competent accountant.

The two mischievous boys returned to their room, finished the exercise book Lin Miaomiao gave them, and then rushed outside with their firecrackers.

They had been cooped up for so long, subjected to endless extracurricular classes by their sister. If not for Li Yanhe’s return, they doubted they would have any respite.

They played all afternoon, and when dinner time came, they ran back home. Lin Miaomiao noted that their clothes, neat when they left, were now dirty beyond repair.

She rubbed her brow in mild frustration, while Li Yanhe looked sternly at Lin Langluan and Lin Langze.

Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe had a study, and after the two boys began their lessons, Lin Miaomiao set up a study for them as well.

The large compound had plenty of rooms, and Lin Miaomiao saw no reason to let them go unused; she utilized every space she could.

Following Li Yanhe to their study, the two boys stood silently and handed over their copied books.

Li Yanhe glanced at their work and nodded. “If your handwriting is this sloppy next time, you’ll have to copy double.”

The boys’ faces fell at his words, and then he continued, “If you come back from playing with your clothes this dirty again, don’t bother coming home.”

His voice was cool and clear. The boys were a little afraid of him; Lin Miaomiao had them address Li Yanhe as “brother.”

The relationship between Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe was strange; she herself couldn’t quite describe it. After all, terms of address were just that—like Cui Liu and the others calling Li Yanhe “master,” it was all the same.

“Understood, brother.” In their minds, Li Yanhe always wore a stern expression and was quite intimidating.

Neither dared challenge his authority; for reasons they couldn’t explain, they instinctively feared him.

After admonishing them, Li Yanhe said, “Go take a bath, change your clothes, and get ready for dinner.”

Lin Miaomiao watched him emerge from the room with a cheerful smile, saying nothing.

She knew there had to be someone who could keep Lin Langluan and Lin Langze in check. Raising children was always like this; when she was young, she was more afraid of her mother.

Her father doted on her, buying whatever she wanted, but whenever her mother was present, Lin Miaomiao would think twice about making requests.

Mischievous children needed rules, or else chaos would reign when they grew up.

Jiang Luohan observed the odd pairing of Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe, at a loss for words. They had the look of a couple, but Lin Miaomiao was only eight years old.

In the evening, everyone sat together at the table for dinner. Lin Langluan and Lin Langze had changed into clean clothes. Afterward, Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe went to the study.

Every year, as the New Year drew to a close, Lin Miaomiao would have Lin Qi and Lin Ji Wang lead the workers in inspecting the production rooms, making timely repairs if any problems were found.

This was to ensure the workers’ safety. Though life was cheap in these times, Lin Miaomiao did not wish it so.

She was kind at heart and unwilling to enslave her employees; thus, those who worked in her factories followed her with true dedication.

After Lin Qi and Lin Ji Wang finished the factory repairs, the workers gradually returned. The holiday was over, and they began another year of work.

Lin Miaomiao had them repaint the factory’s white walls and affix red welcome banners.

When all was done, Lin Miaomiao turned to the backlog of orders left from before the New Year. Her factories were growing, and so were the orders.

She opened a pre-order system: if you wanted to order something, you could reserve in advance and pick up your goods without waiting.

This new service won her many partners’ favor, so before the factory shut down for the holiday, Lin Miaomiao had already received numerous orders for the coming year.

She numbered these orders, and clients simply presented their numbers to collect their goods after the holiday.

Lin Qi and Lin Ji Wang were busy almost every day in the first month of reopening, as were Ruo Yu and Lan Zhi.

Lin Miaomiao managed four factories—two food processing plants and two clothing factories—and life was bustling.

After handling everything, Lin Miaomiao felt that signing up for bookkeeping classes had truly been worthwhile.

She still remembered sitting in the training institution, listening to the teachers praise the industry’s prospects and job opportunities, and feeling it was all empty talk.

Who could be so lucky as to land in a major company’s management right away?