1994: Starting with unpaid leave

When you open a business, the proper way to make money is to greet customers and see them off in a friendly manner.

Dong Jianguo didn't initially intend to do anything to Wang Gaofei.

Although Wang Gaofei caused him to be laid off without pay, the sooner he was laid off, the sooner he could start his own business.

Without his encouragement, if I wanted to quit my job and start a business, given my previous reputation for being unreliable, my family would have faced much greater resistance.

Besides, the mess between him and Wang Gaofei had already been resolved by Director Gao.

As for the fact that this kid still harbors wicked intentions towards Xiuyun, that's not a big deal.

Because Xiuyun had absolutely no interest in his pretentious and self-righteous act.

As a potential rival in love, Wang Gaofei posed no threat to him at all.

But what Dong Jianguo shouldn't have done was to call Yueyue, who had lost her father, an illegitimate child.

Men with daughters can't stand this!

What's more, this girl even calls her wife "godmother"?!

If it weren't for someone stopping him, and with Xiuyun, who was pregnant, behind him, Dong Jianguo would have had the urge to make Wang Gaofei lie down and leave his yard.

Wang Gaofei picked up his glasses, and his blurry vision finally became clear again.

But a crack has appeared in his world.

Not only were the lenses cracked, but Dong Jianguo's words also opened a crack in his heart.

Throughout his years working at the factory, he has always been conscientious and dedicated, always considering the needs of his superiors.

After seeing off Director Zhao, we welcomed Director Gao.

He thought he could make a name for himself and make his years of hard study worthwhile with this method, but now the factory director Gao Yi has discarded it like trash and ignored it.

Perhaps Dong Jianguo is right; he really did read the books but didn't understand them.

He didn't even bother to wipe the blood off his face. He pushed aside the customers who were watching the commotion in front of the courtyard gate and staggered away, disappearing into the alleyway...

Seeing that he had left, the customers who had been trying to break up the fight stopped blocking Dong Jianguo.

Dong Jianguo squatted down and patted Yueyue's head.

Seeing that she was still crying, he reached out and hugged the child.

As soon as she was hugged, Yueyue's cries suddenly grew louder: "I want my mommy, I want her to take me to find my daddy..."

The sound of a child crying is heartbreaking.

Dong Jianguo's mood didn't improve after his outburst; instead, he felt even more frustrated...

"Yueyue, how about your godmother gives you some steamed rice cake?"

Xiuyun, who was standing to the side, was also heartbroken and gently advised her goddaughter whom she had just accepted that afternoon.

But the little girl seemed determined, twisting her body to struggle out of Dong Jianguo's arms.

My mother said that this uncle is a very good person, a really good person.

She also knew that this uncle had just chased away the bad guys for her.

But he smelled different from his father:

"I don't want rotten rice cake... I want to find my mom and dad! I'm not a bastard!"

Zhou Xiuyun was quite helpless after hearing this, muttering to herself:

"Yueyue, don't cry. You're not...you're not...your mom went to buy groceries and will be back soon. Mom and godmother will make you lots and lots of delicious food, okay?"

But the more she tried to explain, the harder Yueyue cried.

Children don't understand adults' subtleties. When they are bullied, they will always seek out someone who can make them feel safe as soon as possible.

"Yueyue...? What's wrong?"

A slightly flustered voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

Carrying freshly bought vegetables, Zhao Hongmei rushed in from outside the courtyard gate.

Seeing her daughter's face streaked with tears, Zhao Hongmei felt a pang of heartache and hurriedly took Yueyue from Dong Jianguo's arms.

With teary eyes, Yueyue saw her mother, and feeling wronged, she cried even harder.

"Mom...some people are calling me a bastard...saying I have no father or mother..."

Yueyue repeated Wang Gaofei's hurtful words to her, one by one.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hongmei's eyes immediately reddened.

She bit her lip, forcing back her tears.

"Silly child, isn't Mommy right here?! How could you not have a mommy and daddy?"

Seeing this, the customers recounted what had just happened in a flurry of conversation:

"Hongmei, don't be sad. Xiao Dong just chased Wang Gaofei away."

"Yeah, yeah, you didn't see it! If we hadn't stopped him, Xiao Dong would have beaten that little bastard to death today!"

"I heard from my son that Wang Gaofei has really gotten his comeuppance these past few days. He was transferred from the factory manager's office to the production workshop, and now he's on leave after the transfer. I think that kid's going to get fired sooner or later!"

"That's karma. Why don't they talk about how many people he and the factory manager swindled!"

Dong Jianguo waved his hand, stopping the discussion:

"Sister Hongmei, why don't you take Yueyue inside first and let the child calm down?"

"Xiuyun, you come inside and keep them company. I'll settle the accounts for these guests first..."

Zhao Hongmei shook her head: "Jianguo and Xiuyun, you two keep busy outside. I'll come out and help after I've put the child to bed and cooked dinner..."

After saying that, she carried the still-crying Yueyue into the house.

Xiuyun was still a little worried and was about to follow him in when Dong Jianguo stopped her.

"what?"

"Don't go in yet, give the mother and daughter some space."

Dong Jianguo stopped her because he saw Zhao Hongmei's shoulders trembling as she walked away with the child in her arms.

I guess she couldn't hold back her tears either...

What a mess! On my very first day selling eggs at home, I ran into this weirdo, Wang Gaofei!

Dong Jianguo exhaled a breath of stale air.

I don't feel any sense of accomplishment no matter how much money I make today...

……

It wasn't until 9 p.m. that Dong Jianjia locked the door and went to rest.

The couple lay in bed, too lazy to even count their money...

I can't do it anymore, I really can't.

The six boxes of newly laid eggs were taken by Erzhuzi to Xijuzhai for sale.

With the experience of a successful sale last time, the sale went even more smoothly this time, and he sold out in less than an hour.

As for regular eggs, sales were also quite good.

We sold more than half of them today.

If things continue like this, we won't need to consider going to the morning market near Longsha Park tomorrow.

"hey-hey……"

Hearing his wife's laughter, Dong Jianguo couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

"I laughed at Yueyue. She's still just a child. When you said you wanted to be her godfather, look how happy she was, she even laughed so hard that snot bubbles came out of her nose."

When Dong Jianguo heard his wife bring it up, he smiled as he reminisced about that scene.

Children's sadness comes quickly, but it also goes quickly.

On the contrary, adults' depression tends to last longer.

Even after Sister Hongmei finished preparing dinner for everyone, her eyes were still red.

She said she was smoked while cooking, but even the slow-witted Erzhu knew that wasn't the case.

When Wang Gaofei came to buy eggs, Erzhuzi was delivering goods to the small restaurant and was unaware of the reason behind it.

With everyone present, Dong Jianguo proposed to adopt Yueyue as his goddaughter.

"Since Xiuyun is already Yueyue's godmother, it's reasonable for her husband to be Yueyue's godfather, right?"

Hearing his suggestion, Zhao Hongmei was naturally very grateful, and Yueyue's behavior was just as Xiuyun had described. She cheered, "I have a dad now!" and jumped around until she was laughing so hard that snot bubbles came out of her nose.

For Dong Jianguo, the happiest thing today was probably gaining Yueyue as his goddaughter.

He smiled and turned over on the kang (a heated brick bed): "Wife, make the bed, get ready to sleep."

"Um."

Xiuyun agreed and was about to take the quilt from the kang when she heard someone knocking on the courtyard gate.

"Who is it, so late?"

"I'll go take a look."

Dong Jianguo came out of the house and shouted, "It's too late today, we're not selling eggs anymore!"

Wang Gaofei's voice came from outside the door: "Jianguo, it's me, open the door..."

Dong Jianguo was taken aback:

Holy crap, how dare you come back?!