In the evening, Xu Nianji came back with Ling Dong and learned that his mother-in-law had arrived.
"Xiaohe, are you okay?" Xu Nianji instinctively sized up Zhou He, fearing that her mother was giving her a hard time again.
"It’s fine, my mom isn’t a tiger." Zhou He laughed at his gesture, saying, "My mom came today just to ask about the bean sprout business. Everything’s sorted out now, there’s nothing to worry about. How about you? Is learning to drive tiring, or is it difficult?"
"With Dongge teaching me, it’s not tiring at all." Every time Xu Nianji returned home and saw Zhou He’s sweet smile, and his family gathered together, he felt happy and not the least bit tired.
Xu Nianji talked about learning to drive and his delivery work. After a few days, he had started to get the hang of it.
"Little sister, could you teach me?" Xu Nianji asked with some embarrassment as he handed a book on mechanical principles to Xu Nianhua.
He had wanted to ask Xu Nian’an, but Xu Nian’an had been staying with Du Chang these days, learning with him from morning till night, so even if he wanted to find Xu Nian’an, it was impossible.
Xu Nianhua took the book and saw that it was filled with technical terminology and professional jargon.
"There are so many words I don’t know." In terms of studying, Xu Nianji really lacked talent. Although he had finished middle school, there were still many characters he didn’t recognize.
Xu Nianhua taught him all the words he didn’t know, including some that were learned from the book, explaining them in detail.
"So that’s how it is."
Xu Nianji marked the pronunciation for all the words he didn’t recognize.
"Big brother, you’re even more diligent than when we were in school!" said Xu Nianhua, teasingly watching him study so earnestly.
Back in school, the sight of a book would give big brother a headache.
"Ah, these words know me, but I don’t know them!"
Xu Nianji looked frustrated. He felt confident that he could learn to drive, but mechanical repair seemed to be a bit more difficult.
"Don’t lose heart. I believe you can do it."
Xu Nianhua encouraged him. With nothing else pressing, she sat with Xu Nianji, reading the book, and taught him all the words he might not know, adding pinyin as well.
"Nianhua, I wish my brain was half as good as yours," Xu Nianji couldn’t help but lament, his head aching after a whole evening of reading.
One piece of furniture after another was carried out and loaded onto the truck. Xu Qinghe personally followed the truck to the customer’s home, installing the furniture perfectly, and when he received the final payment, he felt that all his long-term efforts were finally paying off.
"Xiaosong, this is today’s money!"
Xu Qinghe showed the final payment to Xu Song with a face full of joy, finding this far better than the jobs he used to take on before.
Taking on jobs meant confirming countless times with customers, sometimes having to make changes midway if the customer wasn’t satisfied. Moreover, each customer lived in a different place, which meant they had to run all over the place.
But after setting up a factory, it was clearly different. They made sample furniture, the customer placed an order, and they finished it in the factory. They then delivered it to the customer’s home, assembled it there, and saved a great deal of their time, avoiding a lot of unnecessary travel.
"Uncle Qinghe, I’m not dreaming, am I?"
These days, Xu Song had been walking on air, the deposits alone nearly equaling what he used to earn in a year.