Cheng Su and Ning Ge calculated for half a day, but in the end, they chose the factory building in East Village, which was about three or four hundred square meters, with the rent being over two hundred for a year. Once it was settled, Cheng Su and Ning Ge split up to get things done—Cheng Su was responsible for signing the contract with East Village and renovating the factory building, while Ning Ge was in charge of purchasing equipment and sourcing fruit.
After the factory contract was signed, Cheng Su found Xiaozhi, who had renovated her restaurant before, and together they measured the space and drew up design plans, allocating areas for the logistics office and the workroom among others. She gave him the contract for the entire factory renovation.
Ning Ge had already left to inspect equipment, and Cheng Su went to the glass factory, negotiating a long-term partnership for custom-made bottles. Because the order was large and ongoing, and Cheng Su was a returning customer, she obtained a very favorable price.
Cheng Su’s initial intention was to make strawberry jam to establish the company’s reputation. She traversed the entirety of Qing City buying several dozen pounds of strawberries, preparing to experiment to create the best-tasting jam.
The days were busy yet fulfilling, and soon Cheng Su had lost weight, but she felt exceptionally spirited, only feeling tired when she returned home in the evening.
On the sixth day of Commander Qi’s mission, Cheng Su didn’t get home until after the restaurant had closed for the day. Guiying just came out of the bathroom and saw her, asking, "Sister-in-law, you’ve come back so late again?"
"Haven’t you gone to bed yet? I waited for the restaurant to close before coming home!" Cheng Su smiled.
As she reached her front door, Cheng Su took out her keys to unlock it. Guiying followed and said, "I can’t sleep. Sister-in-law, can I talk to you for a bit?"
"Sure, come on in!" Cheng Su opened the door and welcomed her in. Seeing the troubled look on her face, she smiled and said, "Are you missing Dahe?" Guiying blushed at the question that hit the mark. She sneakily glanced around and asked, "Sister-in-law, don’t you miss Commander Qi?"
"Me? I’m too busy to spend that much time thinking about him." Cheng Su washed two apples, handing one to her.
"No, no need for formality, I just wanted to have a chat." Guiying declined with a flushed face, waving her hand.
"Here, take it." Cheng Su pressed the apple into her arms and sat down.
Guiying, with a blushing face, bashfully said, "Then, thank you!"
"It’s just an apple, you don’t have to be so grateful." Cheng Su crisply bit into her apple and said, "Try it, it’s really refreshing and sweet. I’ll tell you, women should eat more fruit and drink more water to keep their skin tender and soft. You should relax your heart; you don’t want to make your skin dark and dull, or Dahe will worry when he gets back!"
Guiying, now red-faced and bashful, touched her cheek, and then took another look at Cheng Su before saying, "No wonder your skin is so good." She took a small bite of her apple and asked, "Sister-in-law, you’re really not worried about Commander Qi? I think about Dahe every day, scared he might get hurt or not do well!"
"Worrying is no use, it’s better to peacefully do what you need to do, manage the housework well, and wait obediently for him to return." Cheng Su spoke with a smile, "Moreover, I really don’t have the time to think about him. I’m so busy lately that I fall asleep as soon as I get into bed after showering and get up early the next day to keep busy. I don’t have time to think about him."
Guiying looked at her with admiring eyes and said, "Sister-in-law, you’re so capable."
Cheng Su took another bite of her apple and replied, "It’s not about being capable or not. It’s just that a woman can’t just revolve around a man, right? We should also have our own space. Like now, while he’s away, do something for yourself, learn something new."
Guiying had a thoughtful look on her face.
"Of course, when you can’t sleep, you can think about, well, you know what I mean." Cheng Su said with an ambiguous smile.
Guiying caught the hint and immediately turned beet red.