My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

The motorcycle roared all the way, and after more than ten minutes, it drove into a brand new industrial area.

Yinshan Industrial Zone.

It is indeed new here; the streets are wide, the buildings are brand new, and there are scaffolding and construction noises everywhere. But there are plenty of people on the streets. At lunchtime, groups of workers pour out of various factory areas, filling every street like a tide.

The shops along the roadside were doing brisk business. There were long queues in front of fast food restaurants, and the convenience stores were packed with people buying water and cigarettes. Even the stall selling jianbing (Chinese crepes) had seven or eight people in line.

Bao Yazhong parked his motorcycle in front of a row of street-facing shops, pointed to one of the closed shops, and said, "This one. The transfer fee is 10,000, the rent is 1,000 a month, two months' deposit and one month's rent, so it can be taken for 13,000 in total."

Su Ming peered through the gap in the roller shutter door. The room was empty, about thirty square meters, with a neat and square layout.

"Let's go, let's make a call first." Bao Yazhong took out his phone, looked at the rental information posted on the door, and dialed the number.

The voice on the other end of the phone was a man's, saying he would come right away.

After waiting for about ten minutes, a middle-aged man wearing a floral shirt and a gold chain arrived on a motorcycle. He looked Bao Yazhong and Su Ming up and down, but didn't ask any questions. He simply opened the door and let them in.

The shop was indeed nice; although it was empty, it had all the necessary water and electricity, and the walls were fairly clean. Bao Yazhong walked around inside, asked a few questions, and immediately decided to pay a deposit of three thousand yuan.

"Pay the balance within five days." The man in the floral shirt took the money and said with a smile, "Then come find me to sign the contract."

Bao Yazhong nodded, saw him off, and then pulled Su Ming to a nearby fast food restaurant. They ordered two fried rice noodles to fill their stomachs, and then hurriedly went to the second-hand game console market.

It was a row of low factory buildings converted into warehouses, filled with all sorts of old machines. Arcade machines, claw machines, basketball machines, and slot machines were piled up haphazardly, like small mountains.

Bao Yazhong was clearly a regular customer; he started chatting with the owner as soon as he entered. In the end, he chose eight machines: three slot machines and five regular arcade machines as a cover. The owner initially quoted 1,800 yuan per machine, but after much haggling, Bao Yazhong finally settled on 1,500 yuan, with delivery to be made in five days.

Eight machines, 12,000 yuan.

Adding the 13,000 for the storefront, the total is 25,000.

After leaving the market, Bao Yazhong patted Su Ming on the shoulder and said, "Brother Ming, I've paid a 3,000 yuan deposit for the shop and a 500 yuan deposit for the machines. We'll split the remaining 21,500 yuan, you only need to contribute 10,750. When will you be able to gather your share?"

"There's no need to deduct from my amount. We agreed to split it 50/50. I'll contribute another 12,500." Su Ming thought for a moment and said, "I'll raise the money within five days."

Bao Yazhong nodded without asking any further questions, only instructing, "Okay, then hurry up. The sooner this business gets off the ground, the sooner you can start making money."

"Hmm!" Su Ming responded, but his mind was racing with calculations.

He has four thousand yuan in hand, but he is still short eight thousand five, and he has to find a way to make up the difference.

Five days, 8,500 yuan—where am I supposed to find that kind of money?

Who should I borrow from?

Lin Shumei? No way. He just had that kind of relationship with her; asking to borrow money now would just change the tone. Besides, although that woman is rich, she's cunning; who knows if she'll overthink it?

Looking for Tian Jing? Even worse. Her father is sick, and she's already borrowing money everywhere; where would she get the money to lend him?

Looking for my cousin's wife?

Su Ming thought of his cousin's wife's eyes, which seemed to see right through him, and felt a little uneasy. Would she agree? Would she ask him what he needed the money for?

But right now, she's the only one I can lend her.

In the evening, Su Ming made a special detour to the market and bought some braised dishes, including braised pork head, braised chicken feet, and braised tofu, all of which his cousin-in-law loved. He also bought some green vegetables and carried them back to his apartment.

Pushing open the door, a faint fragrance wafted through the air. Qiu Tong was sitting on the sofa, having already showered and changed into loungewear; her hair was still damp, and she looked like she was getting ready to go out for dinner.

When she saw Su Ming return, she was taken aback for a moment, then smiled: "Oh, why are you here so early today?"

Su Ming put the braised vegetables he was holding on the coffee table and smiled, "Nothing much at the factory, no overtime, so I came back early."

Qiu Tong glanced at the bag of braised vegetables and raised an eyebrow: "You bought vegetables too? Has the sun risen in the west?"

Su Ming scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Sister-in-law, I'll go make dinner. What would you like to eat?"

Qiu Tong looked at him, a hint of suspicion flashing in her eyes, but she didn't ask any further questions. She stood up and said, "Okay, I'll help you wash the vegetables."

The two went into the kitchen together.

The kitchen was small, and it felt a bit cramped with two people standing inside. Qiu Tong was bending over washing vegetables at the sink, while Su Ming was chopping braised vegetables next to her.

The tap was running, the range hood was humming, and everything seemed so ordinary.

But Su Ming's eyes couldn't help but drift towards his cousin's wife.

She was wearing a loose T-shirt today, with a wide neckline, and when she bent over, her snow-white skin was faintly visible. Water droplets splashed on her arms, shimmering under the light.

Su Ming swallowed hard, then quickly looked away, staring at the braised vegetables in his hand.

You can't look, you can't look! If you look any longer, you'll have a reaction!

But his eyes wouldn't obey him, and after a while, they glanced away again.

Just then, Qiu Tong suddenly straightened up and brushed her loose hair aside. She turned her head and met Su Ming's gaze.

Su Ming panicked and quickly lowered his head, pretending to be focused on chopping vegetables.

Qiu Tong was stunned for a moment, then looked down following his gaze—the neckline of her T-shirt was open, and the shoulder strap had slipped halfway down, about to fall off.

She couldn't help but laugh.

"Su Ming," she winked at him, "help me pull up my bra strap."

Su Ming exclaimed "Ah!", looked up, and his face instantly turned red.

Seeing his embarrassed look, Qiu Tong laughed even harder and urged, "Hurry up, you're going to fall!"

Su Ming blushed, replied "Okay," put down the knife in his hand, and clumsily walked behind her.

He reached out, pinched the thin shoulder strap, and carefully pulled it up. His fingertips accidentally brushed against her smooth shoulder, and the warm touch sent a jolt through his heart.

Qiu Tong stood there, motionless, a smile playing on her lips.

Su Ming tightened the shoulder strap, quickly loosened his grip, took a step back, and felt his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

Qiu Tong turned around, looked at him, and smiled mischievously.

"Have you never helped Yang Tian take off her bra before?" she asked.

Su Ming blushed and shook his head.

Qiu Tong smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Then you have to keep it up!"

Su Ming lowered his head, not daring to look at her or say anything.

Qiu Tong smiled and shook her head, then turned back to washing the vegetables: "Okay, the vegetables are washed. I'm going to sit in the living room for a while; my back is killing me. You can do this."

After saying that, she wiped her hands and walked out of the kitchen.

Su Ming stood there, taking several deep breaths to calm his wildly beating heart. He picked up the knife and continued chopping the braised vegetables, but his mind was filled with the scene from just now: the slipped bra strap, the smooth shoulder, the mischievous smile…