1994: Starting with unpaid leave

Chapter 177 Xiuyun Takes Charge (Two Chapters Combined)

The green train emitted a long, drawn-out whistle, like a weary sigh, and slowly pulled up to a stop at the platform of Hecheng Railway Station.

Outside the car window, it was still that familiar black soil.

In late April, the chill in Hecheng was much stronger than in Beijing. The air was still filled with the scent of lingering snow and ice, mixed with the earthy smell unique to the Northeast Plain.

Dong Jianguo took a deep breath of the dry, cold air, and his lungs were instantly filled with a sense of belonging.

Anyway, at least I'm back.

"Excuse me, could you please make way?"

Dong Jianguo dragged his huge suitcase and struggled to squeeze out of the carriage door.

The wheels of the suitcase creaked and groaned on the concrete floor of the platform in protest. It was stuffed with "Beijing specialties" that Li Wan had insisted on giving him and gifts for his family.

As soon as I stepped out of the station, the cold wind of Hecheng felt like a knife, instantly scraping my face.

"Longjiang, Longjiang, wanna come?!"

"The wealthy district is one area short!"

"Hey bro, from Ang Hei district, wanna go?"

As soon as I stepped out of the station, a group of drivers waiting for fares surrounded me.

Upon hearing that Dong Jianguo was going to the Xiju residence, he immediately lost interest.

Dong Jianguo waited by the roadside for more than ten minutes, but no driver complained that the distance was too short and was unwilling to give him a ride.

Finally, a bright green bus arrived, and Dong Jianguo boarded it.

The bus swayed and lurched, stopping and starting intermittently.

Dong Jianguo's heart also wavered.

He felt apprehensive about being close to home, especially so.

However, what must be faced cannot be avoided.

When Dong Jianguo opened his front door and smelled the familiar scent in the room, his tense nerves relaxed.

Hearing the noise, Zhang Guifen, the mother, came out of the kitchen: "Why are you back so early today—Jianguo?!"

"mom!"

When Dong Jianguo saw his mother, a warm smile appeared on his face.

"Oh, you're finally back!" Zhang Guifen didn't even bother to wipe the flour off her hands before rushing over to hug her youngest son, tears welling up in her eyes.

Unlike his eldest son Baoguo and second son Weiguo, Jianguo did not experience the Down to the Countryside Movement and had always stayed by his side since childhood.

This trip to the capital was the first time he had ever been so far from home.

It would be a lie to say I'm not worried.

Dong Jianguo hugged his mother, but seeing that there was no movement from the open bedroom door, he couldn't help but wonder, "Mom, where's Xiuyun?!"

"You come back and immediately start looking for a wife? What a pathetic sight!"

Zhang Guifen chuckled and complained, but a hint of understanding flashed across her face.

They've all been young once, and it's normal for a son to want a wife while he's still young.

"She went to the factory to work, and when she came home for lunch, she fed the baby some milk."

As she spoke, she pointed to the clock on the wall: "It's not time yet, but it'll be soon—"

"I see—"

Dong Jianguo nodded, took off his coat, and went into the bedroom.

Beside the bed in the bedroom, there was a small cradle with a soft cotton mattress inside. Little Orange was wrapped up tightly and was still fast asleep.

Her little face was rosy, like two ripe apples, and she smacked her lips, occasionally letting out a few soft murmurs in her sleep.

Seeing his daughter's unharmed face, Dong Jianguo finally felt relieved.

He sat gently on the edge of the bed, carefully reached out, and gently rubbed his daughter's soft cheek with the back of his fingers.

Little Orange seemed to sense her father's presence; her eyelashes trembled slightly, but she did not wake up.

Dong Jianguo looked at his daughter, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

When he left home, Little Orange was only two months old, a tiny, chubby little bundle of joy who could only cry. Now she's two months old, and her face seems to have opened up a lot more than before; her features already show the beginnings of what she'll look like when she grows up.

I missed this month of my daughter's growth.

The dazzling lights of the capital and Li Wan's secluded paradise seemed so unreal and distant at this moment.

I am a real bastard.

"Mom, thank you so much for helping us take care of the baby for so long—"

Dong Jianguo turned to look at his mother standing at the door and said sincerely.

"Why thank me?! If I don't help you when you're in trouble, who will?!"

Zhang Guifen smiled, but then said with a hint of heartache, "But Xiuyun has been truly exhausted these past few days—"

"she----"

"Your factory is busy!" Mother walked into the bedroom and sat down in the chair in front of the dressing table. "You have no idea, a lot of things have happened at the factory while you were gone for a month."

"event?"

"Of course! You've been busy negotiating business in Beijing lately, bringing in a lot of orders, but you haven't even considered whether the factory's production can keep up!"

"You're not even here. Although we call every day, what can you really explain in just a few minutes? In the end, someone has to make the final decision!"

"Having exhausted all other options, Erzhuzi and Accountant Xiaotian invited Xiuyun back to the factory. Xiuyun, the boss, made all the decisions regarding hiring and buying new production lines!"

As Dong Jianguo listened to his mother's words, his heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, causing him so much pain that he could hardly breathe.

He then remembered that before returning, he had indeed used the connections he made in the training course to close quite a few big deals.

He originally thought that Crane Flavor's current production capacity would be sufficient to meet the demand.

He was wrong.

He seriously underestimated the butterfly effect that "Crane's Taste" caused in the training classes in Beijing.

He was preoccupied with chatting and laughing in the capital, but he placed all the burdens on Xiuyun, who had just given birth and was still breastfeeding.

"Mom, please continue," Dong Jianguo said, his voice a little hoarse.

"What can I say?" The mother's tone was slightly reproachful. "Xiuyun is such a stubborn girl. She was afraid you would worry, afraid you wouldn't do well in your studies in Beijing, so she didn't say a single word to you on the phone. During the day, she supervised production at the factory, and at night she would come home to feed the baby. Sometimes the baby would cry loudly from hunger, and she would have to take the factory's car back home, feed the baby, and then rush back."

"I told her not to go anymore, to take a break, but she wouldn't listen. She said, 'This factory is your life's work, it can't be ruined in her hands.'"

Tell me, this child—”

"I used to think that Xiuyun was a delicate and weak woman, and a bit inexperienced."

Looking back now, I realize I misjudged him back then.

As she spoke, her eyes reddened, and she turned away to wipe her tears.

Dong Jianguo sat on the edge of the bed, looking at his sleeping daughter and listening to his mother's words, and tears almost fell from his eyes.

He was not a good husband.

He was not a good father either.

Driven by his ambition and personal desires, he abandoned a woman who had just given birth at home, leaving her to shoulder all the hardships alone.

"Mom, stop talking." Dong Jianguo stood up, wiped his face, and said, "I'm going to the factory to find her."

"What's the point of you going? It's already lunchtime and people are getting off work—"

"I'll go take a look."

Dong Jianguo turned to leave.

Just then, the sound of a car engine turning off came from downstairs.

Immediately following was a series of hurried footsteps and the sound of a key turning in the lock.

With a "click," the door opened.

"Xiuyun is back?"

She was wearing an old coat that Dong Jianguo was familiar with, her hair was a little messy from the wind, her face showed obvious fatigue, and her lips were dry and chapped from lack of water.

But when she saw Dong Jianguo standing in the room, her tired face instantly lit up with an incredibly surprised smile.

"Jianguo?! You're back?!"

"Yes, I'm back."

Dong Jianguo looked at her, his throat felt like it was blocked by something, and he couldn't say a word.

Xiuyun didn't care about anything else. She closed the door, rubbed her hands which were red from the cold, and quickly walked up to Dong Jianguo, reaching out to pat non-existent dust off his shoulders.

"Are you hungry? Are you cold? Mom! Mom, look! Jianguo's back!"

"I'm fine, Xiuyun—" Dong Jianguo finally found his voice. He looked at Xiuyun's haggard face, his heart...

A wave of guilt washed over me.

You've lost weight.

"I'm not thin, I've just been busy," Xiuyun said with a smile, taking off her coat as she spoke. "By the way, have you eaten yet?"

"No, Mom and I are waiting for you to eat together—"

"Honestly, if you're hungry, just eat already! What are you waiting for me for?! I'm feeding the girl!"

As they were talking, Little Orange in the bedroom seemed to sense the arrival of lunch and started whimpering and crying.

Upon hearing this, Xiuyun hurriedly went into the room and began to comfort her daughter.

Seeing that she was taking off her clothes to prepare for breastfeeding, Zhang Guifen stood up: "Xiuyun, Mom's going to serve you some food. We have your favorite pork ribs and potatoes for lunch today!"

"Um!"

Xiuyun smiled and agreed, a blush of happiness spreading across her face because of Jianguo's return.

Jianguo sat beside his wife, watching her breastfeed the baby, her face radiant with maternal glow. A pang of guilt involuntarily rose in his heart.

"What's wrong with you?! Why are you looking at me like that?!"

"Huh? Then how should I see you?!"

"You should be—looking at me lecherously!"

After Xiuyun finished speaking, she herself became a little embarrassed.

Dong Jianguo suddenly realized, and reached out to pinch his wife's ample breasts: "Wife, it feels like you've gotten bigger—"

"Get lost! This is all your daughter's food. Would you be happy if it were too small?!"

Dong Jianguo chuckled, thus concealing his earlier guilt.

"The factory must be incredibly busy lately!"

"It's alright —"

"Right now, there are still some distributors in the factory waiting for their orders. Some people are saying that if they can't ship them out today, they'll have to cancel their orders. But if everyone works overtime, we should be able to manage. Jianguo, don't worry, these are orders you worked so hard to secure, we definitely can't let them fall through."

Dong Jianguo looked at her, at the bloodshot in her eyes, at her chapped lips, and could no longer hold back.

He suddenly pulled Xiuyun into his arms and hugged her tightly, with such force that it seemed he wanted to meld her into his very bones.

"I'm sorry—" Dong Jianguo buried his face in Xiuyun's neck, his voice choked with sobs, "Xiuyun, I'm sorry—it's all my fault, I shouldn't have left you alone—"

Xiuyun was a little breathless from his embrace, but her body instantly stiffened.

She could feel Dong Jianguo trembling, and she could feel his scalding tears soaking her skin through her cotton-padded coat.

"Jianguo—what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Xiuyun was a little flustered. She raised her hand and awkwardly patted Dong Jianguo's back. "I'm fine, I'm doing great. Look, Xiaojuzi is doing great too. The factory is doing great too. You're back now, aren't you? Everything is alright."

She was simply immersed in the joy of her husband's return, in the relief of finally having someone to share the burden—

Xiuyun ultimately did not go to the factory.

Dong Jianguo forcefully kept her at home.

He told his mother to heat up the food, while he pressed Xiuyun down on the sofa and forced her to drink the hot milk he had brought back.

"Jianguo, I'm really okay." Xiuyun sipped her milk, a happy blush on her face. "This place, without you here..."

These days, although I'm a bit tired, my heart is filled with joy. You don't know how much your classmates and distributors value "Hezhiwei" (鹤之味). Now, our factory's products are sold all the way south of the Yellow River —”

"I know. And I also know that we'll be selling across the Yangtze River soon!" Dong Jianguo sat across from her, looking at her. "During this trip to Beijing, I also met a few friends from Guangdong. Some of them want to become our product distributors in Guangdong."

"He said he's going back to Guangdong to open a supermarket, and he even said he'd reserve the best shelf space for our 'Hezhiwei' supermarket."

"Xiuyun, from now on, don't worry about anything at the factory. Leave it to me."

"How can that be?" Xiuyun said anxiously. "You just got back, you need to rest. Besides, everyone at the factory listens to me. If you interfere as soon as you get back, they'll have something to say about it."

"They'll listen to you?" Dong Jianguo's heart skipped a beat. "Do all the people in the factory listen to you?"

"Of course." Xiuyun put down her milk cup, wiped her mouth, and said, "While you were away, Sister Tian, ​​Sister Hongmei, Lao Zhong, and the others have all been very helpful to me. Jianguo, don't worry, the factory is doing just fine now."

"I used to think managing a factory like you would be very difficult, but now, I'm at least slowly getting the hang of it!"

Looking at Xiuyun, and seeing the confident glow on her face from being needed, Dong Jianguo felt even more guilty.

During his absence, Xiuyun not only shouldered the burden of the family, but also successfully took control of the factory.

She has grown into a true, capable factory director's wife.

But he betrayed her when she needed him most.

"Xiuyun, you're amazing," Dong Jianguo said sincerely.

"That's right!" Xiuyun proudly raised her head, then lowered it somewhat shyly. "It's all for you, for our family."

Looking at her, Dong Jianguo could no longer resist and pulled her into his arms again.

This time, he hugged her even tighter.

He swore in his heart: "Dong Jianguo, listen carefully. From now on, you can only be good to this woman. Let that dream in Beijing rot in your heart. You owe her a debt you can never repay in this lifetime."

Outside the window, the midday sun in Hecheng was at its brightest, having already dispelled the chill of the morning and evening.

Inside the house, the family of four was finally reunited.

However, some cracks, once formed, can never be repaired.

Dong Jianguo also knew that some heavy responsibilities had to be shouldered by himself, the man who had just returned.