"Who is it? Such a temper."
Xie Sui got up to check and saw Xu Donglai's murderous glare. "It's my uncle, but from the moment he wanted to sell my brother, I no longer had an uncle."
Xie Sui's face also darkened. Such relatives were more hurtful than enemies; better to be without them.
Xu Donglai's uncle, honest and meek, said, "Donglai, I know you're angry, but I can't help it. Your aunt just wanted to find a good family for the children. She's not as wicked as you think."
Xu Donglai's fists clenched, but he restrained himself from punching him in the face. "She's not wicked? How dare you say that? Touch your conscience, are you not ashamed?"
"She tried once and failed, then tried again. She's determined to harm my brother. If I still tolerated this, I wouldn't be a man."
"When my mother was alive, how did you treat us? My siblings and I ate without you having to worry, and after our parents passed away, you couldn't even take care of them for a few days?"
"Get out. Don't make me have to throw you out."
Xu Dongfang, terrified, wailed, "Don't sell me, I want Mommy and Daddy..."
Xu Yingying hugged him and coaxed, "Uncle, hurry and leave. Look how scared little brother is."
Xu Donglai pushed him out. "Get out. Don't make me say it a third time."
Xu family's uncle's tears fell. "I know I have no face to come, but your aunt has been taken by the police. If she goes to jail, my family will fall apart. My son and daughter will have a mother who's a prisoner and won't be able to hold their heads up in the street.
I am your maternal uncle, flesh and blood. Your brother is fine, must you break up my family?"
Xu Donglai could no longer contain himself. How could he say such a thing!
"Don't act. You always say your wife is innocent, that she just wanted to find a good family for the children. Tomorrow, let's go to the police station and hear what they have to say.
Human trafficking isn't a simple conviction. There's a complete process: buyer, seller, exchange of money, nothing missing. If the evidence is conclusive, what will you have to say?"
Xu Donglai calmed down. "Brother Xie is right. We'll see each other at the police station tomorrow. If, as you say, Aunt is innocent, I won't press charges. But if she took money to sell my brother, then from now on, your family should never come to my house again, or I'll beat you every time I see you."
Xu family's uncle had nothing more to say and had to leave.
The pleasant farewell was ruined, and Xu Donglai was too angry to eat.
Xie Sui beckoned him. "Come inside, we have things to discuss."
He settled how to speak with the police comrades tomorrow, as well as matters concerning the factory. He left him thirty thousand yuan. Once the factory's procedures were complete and the cold storage was repaired, he would come back to give Xu Donglai the ice cream technology.
Xu Donglai looked at him strangely. "Brother Xie, with so much money, you trust me with it?"
"I don't trust you entirely. I originally wanted to give you fifty thousand, but only gave you thirty."
Xu Donglai smiled. That was an honest statement, Brother Xie was generous.
"Brother Xie, are you that rich? Can opening a factory earn so much?"
Xie Sui said seriously, "It's more profitable than you think. I started late this year. You hurry up, you can still catch the tail end. This winter, we'll rely on canned goods, snacks, and also spicy strips and dry noodles, all of which are good money-makers.
Follow Brother Xie, and thirty thousand yuan will later be enough for us to buy your wife an outfit or two for her to dress up."
Xu Donglai's eyes lit up. "Although I know you're exaggerating, I still like to hear it. Why does it sound so good?"
Xie Sui laughed heartily. This guy was also a character.
After settling his affairs, the night passed without incident.
As dawn broke, Xie Sui and Lin Wanwan got up early. After breakfast, they had to catch a long-distance bus. Lin Wanwan was eager to get home.
A thousand pairs of foot-covering pants, a new trendy item from the city, filled an entire tricycle. Xu Donglai saw them off at the long-distance bus station. Xie Sui looked troubled, yearning for the cars of his past life.
For the dignified President Xie to push a tricycle was embarrassing.
It was an uphill road, and they couldn't move without pushing. Lin Wanwan helped him push, her cheeks flushed. An industrious wife was truly endearing.
"Wife, once we have money, we'll buy a car first and stop suffering like this."
Lin Wanwan said, "No, I'm thinking that with this load, I can earn two thousand yuan. I can pedal this tricycle all the way home."
Xie Sui: "You don't care about your life to make money?"
"With money to be made, who cares about life? Without money, there's no life!"
Xie Sui was defeated. He had to work harder to earn money. With a materialistic wife, who knew what she might do.
Lin Wanwan's eyes were full of joy. "After we sell this batch, let's find a way to get another thousand pairs. If we sell three or five batches in the summer, won't I become a ten-thousand-yuan household!"
Lin Wanwan beamed like a hen that had just laid an egg. Xie Sui was speechless. "You're so thin you're like a dried twig, and tanned like charcoal. I'm working hard to earn money now, and I haven't deprived you of money to spend. Do you have to be so money-grubbing?"
"That's different. The money you earn and the money I earn are spent differently."
Lin Wanwan felt much more confident spending money she earned herself. She was never a small-minded woman, and her ambitions were grand. It was only the children and her troublesome husband that had blocked her path.
Now that her husband had changed for the better, she felt like she was living again, with a different way of life.
Xie Sui looked at her in surprise. Had she also been reborn?
At this time, women were generally family-oriented and didn't have the concept of independence and self-reliance that women in his previous life had.
They arrived at the bus station, which was crowded. It took a lot of effort to find a bus back. Fortunately, it was the same driver who helped them tie their belongings to the roof of the bus. The passenger bus was used as a cargo vehicle.
This was a common phenomenon at the time; as long as they could load it, it was good enough.
Finally, they embarked on the journey back. The driver helped them get small stools and sit next to him in the co-pilot's seat. They arrived late, so there were no seats, but at least they didn't have to stand.
Xie Sui's previous efforts in planting flowers were now paying off, and the journey back was smooth.
They rented another tricycle back to the factory. Both of them felt like they had shed a layer of skin, too tired to move.
Xie Min was extremely concerned. "Oh, you're finally back! I was so worried. Why did you bring back so much stuff?"
Lin Wanwan drank a bowl of tea and, recovering, smiled. "Sister, they are all foot-covering pants, very hard to buy."
"You really brought them back?"
Xie Min thought they had only gone to inquire about market conditions, but she hadn't expected them to bring back so much.
Xie Sui held his bag, which still contained sixty thousand yuan, earned with his life.
He hid it, locked the door, and came out to ask Xie Min, "Second Sister, is everything okay at home?"
"There are many things. If you hadn't come back, I wouldn't have known what to do. Let's eat first and rest for a while before we talk slowly."
Xie Sui looked at the factory operating normally, with smiles on the workers' faces. The issues were not that big.
Women, over trivial matters, acted as if the sky was falling.
Gu Lei and the others came to greet him. If Xie Sui hadn't been too tired, they would have had a drink tonight to celebrate Brother Xie's return.
Xie Sui was physically tired, but his heart was very happy. The feeling of returning home was truly wonderful!