TL: Etude
"Eh, Jianghai, how did you get here? Is the director's air conditioning fixed?"
Upon seeing Chen Jianghai in the messenger room, Lin Wanqiu expressed her surprise.
"Hehe, it was fixed a while ago. I didn't have much to do today, so I thought I'd take you out for lunch."
Chen Jianghai said with a smile.
"There's no need, I can just eat in the cafeteria!"
Lin Wanqiu waved her hands dismissively.
"Let's go, I'm already here anyway."
Chen Jianghai didn't take no for an answer, and pushed his wife towards the bicycle.
He took this opportunity to treat Lin Wanqiu to a nice outing and to take it easy himself.
Sitting on the bicycle and holding onto Chen Jianghai's waist, with her face against the man's back, Lin Wanqiu felt a sweet contentment in her heart.
"Chen Jianghai, where are we going?"
On the way, Lin Wanqiu couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, I'm just going to call Zhao Changgui to join us; he's still at the warehouse!"
Chen Jianghai responded casually.
"Mm!"
Lin Wanqiu nodded. She was aware of Zhao Changgui helping them out since yesterday when he had mentioned it.
Riding the bicycle, they leisurely arrived at the warehouse, where Chen Jianghai saw Zhao Changgui sitting at the entrance from afar.
Only then did he remember that Zhao Changgui didn't know he had gone to repair the appliance and must have been waiting there since the morning.
It seemed that he would have to make a key for him.
Otherwise, with his stubbornness, he might wait there until the evening.
"Changgui, have you eaten?" Chen Jianghai waved and asked.
Zhao Changgui shook his head, "Not yet."
"Come on, let's go have a meal, and call your sister too," said Chen Jianghai.
Zhao Changgui glanced at Lin Wanqiu sitting behind on the bike and quickly said, "No need, no need, she's at home cooking for herself. I can just eat when I get back."
"It's settled, I know what you eat every day. Your sister is still growing, she can't go hungry. I'll wait for you at that small restaurant over there, hurry up and bring her over."
After speaking, Chen Jianghai gestured for Lin Wanqiu to get off and then handed over the bicycle to him.
Zhao Changgui looked at Chen Jianghai, said nothing, and rode off.
Arriving at the small restaurant at the entrance of the alley, Chen Jianghai found a seat by the window. After getting Lin Wanqiu a bottle of chilled soda, he proficiently ordered several substantial dishes from the menu.
Lin Wanqiu, sitting beside him, felt it was a bit wasteful to see what he had ordered, but ultimately didn't say anything.
When Zhao Changgui arrived with Zhao Yuxi, Chen Jianghai called out, "Boss, serve the dishes!"
"Right away!" The boss responded and hurriedly went to work.
Seeing Chen Jianghai there, Zhao Yuxi was obviously very happy, "Brother Jianghai, my brother said you're letting me study and read books in the warehouse?"
"Yeah! You're alone at home, and your brother is worried," Chen Jianghai nodded with a smile.
"Thank you, Brother Jianghai." Zhao Yuxi's smile was radiant.
Chen Jianghai waved his hand, beckoning the siblings, "Let's eat!"
It was not until this moment that Zhao Yuxi seemed to notice Lin Wanqiu beside Chen Jianghai.
The smile on her face stiffened for a moment when she saw her.
But then she sweetly greeted, "Hello, sister-in-law."
Lin Wanqiu clearly knew Zhao Yuxi as well and nodded with a smile, "Hello."
After the four of them sat down, the atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.
Fortunately, the boss was quick at cooking. Once he saw that all the guests had arrived, the dishes were served one after another.
It must be said, there was a reason for Zhao Changgui's sizable frame.
Chen Jianghai and Lin Wanqiu were staring at Zhao Changgui in complete astonishment.
It must be said, this was already his third bowl of rice.
Zhao Yuxi felt somewhat embarrassed and couldn't help but reach out and tug at Zhao Changgui's clothes. "Brother, eat less, aren't you making Jianghai and Wanqiu sister-in-law laugh at you?"
Hearing Zhao Yuxi say this, Chen Jianghai was about to say it was fine, when Zhao Changgui spoke up first.
"Your Brother Chen is not an outsider. What's there to laugh at? You've got to eat well to have the energy to work."
Having said that, Zhao Changgui generously filled his bowl again, even pressing down the rice with the serving spoon to pack it in.
Beside him, Lin Wanqiu almost laughed out loud.
Of course, for Chen Jianghai, how much one ate was of no concern.
Having Zhao Changgui as such a great helper was invaluable; what did an extra meal matter?
Chen Jianghai served a piece of poached chicken to Lin Wanqiu next to him, and then turned to Zhao Changgui, who was devouring his food, and asked, "Changgui, did you buy all the stuff I asked for yesterday?"
"I've got it all, I'll bring it over in a bit," replied Zhao Changgui without raising his head, his words a bit muffled.
Zhao Yuxi frowned, "Brother, there was no need to buy those things, it's a waste of money."
"You little kid, what do you know? You're worried about saving money now, but you'll be crying when you have to wear glasses later," Chen Jianghai said with a laugh.
Lin Wanqiu didn't speak but quickly nodded in agreement.
Zhao Yuxi pouted and muttered, "I'm not a child. I'm already in high school and about to be an adult."
"In my eyes, you're still a little girl," Chen Jianghai said with a laugh, shaking his head in a teasing manner.
Zhao Yuxi was so annoyed she couldn't stand it, "Brother, sister-in-law, Jianghai is bullying me."
"You can't win against him, and neither can I," Zhao Changgui threw in, continuing to focus on his meal.
Lin Wanqiu simply smiled gracefully.
An exasperated Zhao Yuxi glared at Chen Jianghai and then declared, "Humph, I'm not talking to you anymore."
Chen Jianghai watched this scene with a cheerful smile.
Teasing a child, especially a pretty little girl, was quite amusing indeed.
After the meal, Lin Wanqiu went back to work, and Chen Jianghai headed to the warehouse to busy himself with assembling televisions.
As for Zhao Changgui, he took Zhao Yuxi back home to move the stuff he bought in the morning.
Afterward, Chen Jianghai handed over the keys, allowing Zhao Changgui to get a copy made for himself, so he wouldn't have to wait outside the door anymore.
"Yeah, Brother Chen, don't worry, not a screw will go missing from the warehouse with me here!" Zhao Changgui declared robustly, showing his loyalty.
...
August 22nd, a week had flown by in the blink of an eye, and Chen Jianghai had been so busy that he hadn't had a moment's rest.
Fang Aiguo and Zhao Changgui had already started to transport goods in batches from Brother Qiang.
Chen Jianghai's rented warehouse was now packed full to the brim.
Except for the area set aside for Zhao Yuxi's studies, there wasn't even space to set foot in the rest of the place.
The thought of renting a shop on Pozijie Street grew stronger and stronger in Chen Jianghai's mind.
However, he simply didn't have the time to take care of it and had to ask Fang Aiguo to pay more attention to it.
In recent days, Fang Aiguo had indeed recommended several places to Chen Jianghai, but none were to his satisfaction.
As the saying goes, fame brings trouble as surely as pigs attract weight.
Chen Jianghai's home appliance repair business was thriving, inciting envy. Upon hearing he wanted to rent a shop, some people couldn't resist asking for exorbitant prices, taking advantage of Chen Jianghai's apparent wealth, while others were offering places too small to be useful, or located too far off the beaten path…