Gong Na sat on the sofa in her assigned two-bedroom apartment, looking at the brand-new linen sofa beneath her. She got up and walked into the kitchen, turned the stove on and off, and then opened the cabinet.
"Huh?"
Late at night, most people online were either scrolling through Weibo or reading novels.
Consequently, Weibo users in City C quickly stumbled upon a post.
"With a dorm like this, I truly want to work for the boss for a lifetime."
Those who saw the post instinctively paused their fingers, then muttered under their breath:
"Are they crazy? Flattering the boss online? What's the point?"
However, despite their grumbling, a portion of netizens, out of boredom, clicked on the nine-picture grid.
Upon opening it, their mouths involuntarily let out the classic: "Holy crap..."
The nine pictures were of the living room, kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, the living room balcony, the view from the balcony, and a labeled gift package of company-provided bedding and daily necessities.
After all, it was a construction blueprint provided by the system. Although the two-bedroom unit was only sixty square meters, the layout was reasonable, with everything one could need. Even the open cabinet in the kitchen contained a full set of unopened bowls and chopsticks, along with simple cooking utensils.
The bedding was a simple striped four-piece set in a plain color, which perfectly matched the already minimalist bedroom.
The wardrobe contained two unopened packs of hangers, and a drum washing machine on the balcony. In essence, this dorm was ready for immediate occupancy.
Such a dormitory environment quickly attracted a wave of comments from netizens.
"Blogger, blogger, which company is this? Are you perhaps a high-ranking executive at a legendary Fortune 500 company?"
"Doesn't feel like it. Do high-ranking executives live in such a small place?"
"Could this be a recruitment ad?"
"Please provide the company address, I've already packed my bags."
Gong Na, who had happily posted on Weibo earlier, was now using the washing machine to rewash the clothes she had hand-washed over the past few days. She then turned on the living room TV and switched to Hunan TV, where "Day Day Up" was playing.
After doing all this, she sat on the sofa, glanced at the starry sky outside, and felt a sense of peace she hadn't experienced in years.
Ever since she got married, she had been busy with work every day. After work, she had to cook and clean dishes. After washing the dishes, she would be covered in sweat. Then she'd go to the bathroom to shower, and upon coming out, she'd have to wash the clothes piled in the bathroom.
While waiting for the clothes to finish washing, she'd be busy sweeping and mopping. By the time she hung the clothes, it would be nearly ten or eleven o'clock.
She'd scroll through Weibo, sleep, and then rush to get up at over eight the next morning to make breakfast, eat, and then catch the bus to work.
Her days were all like this, occasionally interspersed with pressure to have children.
Gong Na thought she could handle it, but one day she accidentally overheard her ex-husband and his sister talking on the phone in Mandarin, deliberately lowering their voices.
Because of this unusual behavior, Gong Na specifically recorded the conversation and then found a younger female colleague who was local to translate it for her.
As it turned out, after all that fuss, her failure to get pregnant in her thirties was purely due to her ex-husband's physical condition. But to avoid divorce, he had kept pressuring her to have a child.
Upon learning this, Gong Na felt that her ten-year marriage had become a joke.
Now, sitting on the sofa, sipping the honey water she had prepared herself and watching "Day Day Up," a show she hadn't had time to catch in a long time, she felt completely relaxed.
Relaxed, Gong Na lay on the sofa and then remembered to pick up her phone to browse Weibo, looking for any new jokes from her favorite comedians.
As soon as she opened Weibo, Gong Na held her phone up in front of her eyes.
"Hundreds, thousands... over a thousand comments?"
Then she saw that the Weibo post she had made about the company dorm had gone viral.
Reading the comments below the post, Gong Na couldn't help but laugh out loud. Despite her amusement, Gong Na generously posted the name and address of Meimei Chang Company. After all, she had already signed her employment contract.
After doing so, Gong Na put her phone aside, got up to hang her clothes, took a hot shower, pulled up the company-provided quilt, and gradually fell asleep.
Before drifting off completely, Gong Na thought to herself.
This quilt is so soft and warm, I feel so happy...
—
Gong Na's promotion led to a situation where, when Liu Chen recruited later, people traveled thousands of miles from surrounding provinces to S Province to apply for jobs at the factory entrance.
It's worth noting that in 2010, most inland provinces still favored working in coastal cities or Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
With so many people coming to work, the selection process became exceptionally easy – it was a matter of selecting the best. Consequently, the helpers Cui Jian had previously contacted were all fairly screened out and none were successful.
Liu Chen was unaware of this. She was currently busy obtaining the permits for her functional beverage.
Initially, she had intended to obtain the permits in City C, but fearing sabotage from the mastermind behind the scenes, Liu Chen eventually used the Shen family's connections to process the permits in Beijing.
Once all the paperwork was complete, the factory employees were also largely recruited and had undergone a few days of job training.
Liu Chen assembled the production lines drawn from the system and, on another Friday evening, flew back to City C.
Standing on the rooftop of the office building, she saw the streetlights illuminating the roads within the factory grounds. Garden lights were also on in the green belts. In the distance, the three dormitory buildings now had lights on in every unit.
The lights of the five production workshops were also on tonight for final inspection.
This vast factory complex, all mine.
Thinking this, a smile involuntarily appeared on Liu Chen's face. Liu Chen, oh Liu Chen, you're amazing!
Fortunately, despite her excitement, Liu Chen returned to the old Chen family residence by car that evening. She chatted with her mother, Chen Long, played with the twins, and agreed on a wake-up time with her grandfather. Lying in bed, propped up by the system's deep sleep pillow, Liu Chen slept soundly.
In contrast to Liu Chen's peaceful sleep, Liu Fang was extremely busy. Currently, in the master bedroom closet of Liu Fang and her husband:
Liu Fang, holding a bright red cheongsam maxi dress in her left hand and a lace-trimmed bright red A-line dress in her right, hurried to the foot of the bed and asked Chen Long, who was taking care of the twins, "Chen Long, look, which dress should I wear tomorrow?"
After speaking, Liu Fang looked expectantly at Chen Long. She trusted his judgment, after all, the entire frozen food industry in City C knew that Chen Long was the most particular man about his appearance.
Indeed, Chen Long, hearing Liu Fang's words, looked up at the two dresses she was holding and shook his head slightly.
"Red is too conspicuous. Tomorrow is Chenchen's factory opening ceremony. We can't steal her thunder. How about you wear that light purple dress I bought you a few days ago, paired with light purple flat shoes, and that pearl necklace we bought for the New Year."
With one sentence, Chen Long had chosen Liu Fang's outfit for the next day. Seeing her go back to the closet to find the clothes, he lowered his head and used a small cloth doll to play with the twins in the crib.
"Jiabao, Jiabei, your sister is holding her factory opening ceremony tomorrow. Do you want to go~~ If you want to go, say something~~ Daddy will take you there~"
Chen Long said this just to tease the children. After all, the twins were only a little over twenty days old, what could they understand?
Yes, Liu Fang returned from the maternity center before her confinement period was fully over. It wasn't for any other reason, but mainly because the other mother in the adjacent room was too noisy, constantly arguing and preventing Liu Fang from sleeping.
Furthermore, Liu Chen was holding her opening ceremony, and Liu Fang felt that she absolutely had to be present for such an important event. Coupled with the fact that it was only a few days until their full month, she decided to come back.
"Ah~~~" The sister of the twins, Chen Jiabei, let out a sound.
As soon as this sound came out, not only Chen Long, but even Liu Fang, who was choosing clothes in the closet, hurried out.
With an expression of shock and confusion.
"I, I think I just heard the baby speak?"
Chen Long looked at Chen Jiabei with incredulous eyes, slowly shaking his head.
"No, not 'I think,' our Jiabei just said ah ah ah!!!"
Seeing her dad and mom's large heads crowding the edge of the crib, Chen Jiabei was still saying ah ah ah, reminding her dad of what he had just said.
Chen Long looked at his younger daughter's soft, tender little face and listened to that childish voice. He couldn't help but lift Chen Jiabei out of the cradle with both hands.
"Our Jiabei is such a little genius. Come, Daddy will kiss you!"
Saying this, Chen Long puckered his lips and moved towards his little daughter's face. Before his lips could touch Chen Jiabei's chubby little face:
"Wah!!"
Chen Jiabei opened her mouth and started to cry loudly. As she cried, she looked at her dad, Chen Long, as if he had committed a heinous crime.
"Jiabei, Jiabei, be good, Mommy is here, Mommy is here, Mommy will help you beat Daddy!"
The baby's cries quickly attracted the two postpartum nurses who had returned home. Each with a baby, they took the two children back to the nurses' room. Under Liu Fang's angry gaze, Chen Long recounted what had just happened from beginning to end.
Hearing this, Liu Fang burst into laughter.
"You, with all your usual intelligence, didn't figure this out? Jiabei wanted to attend her sister's opening ceremony, but you, the child made a sound, and you forgot about it. Don't say the child is unhappy and crying, I'd hit you too if I were her!"
Chen Long was stunned by Liu Fang's words and sat on the edge of the bed, incredulously:
"It can't be, right? How old is Jiabei? She can understand what I'm saying?"
Liu Fang rolled her eyes and sat at the dressing table, applying face cream. "People say children just can't speak, but they can understand. So, don't think you can fool them just because they're young. Since you promised, you have to bring the two children tomorrow."
"I know, I know. Besides, we were going to bring them anyway, right?"
—
Elder Chen was in his study, writing congratulatory drafts one after another. He was unsatisfied with each one until after midnight. Elder Chen reluctantly put away the final draft and hurried to bed, lest he appear unenergetic the next morning.
In Beijing, Ren Yu was rushing to the airport. Shen Hong followed beside him, unable to resist teasing, "Boss, if this continues, Sister-in-law's future career might surpass yours. Look, our company has hired less than two hundred people in total, and Sister-in-law's factory is already building three dormitory buildings!"
Ren Yu, sitting in the passenger seat, watched the greenery whizzing by outside the window and smiled. "Then I'll have to cling tightly to Chenchen's leg and never let go."
Shen Hong originally intended to tease, but upon hearing Ren Yu's words, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Alright, Boss, your thick skin is too much. I can't compete with that."
Ren Yu's eyes twinkled with amusement as he turned to look forward. The gifts he was bringing for this trip were in the trunk. He believed Chenchen would definitely like them.
Compared to these two families, Mi Zhuzhu and Lai Jielun were lying in their respective bedrooms, chatting on the phone.
"Chenchen is holding her factory opening ceremony tomorrow. Wow, I really admire Chenchen!"
"Zhuzhu, you're amazing too. Look at your Weibo followers, everyone is telling you not to lose weight. They like you healthy."
"Sigh, don't bring it up late at night. When I came back this time, my dad saw how much weight I'd lost. He quit going to the construction site and just stayed at home. It was already past ten o'clock tonight, and he forced me to drink a bowl of pig's trotter soup. It was so greasy, I still feel the soup rising to my throat as I lie in bed."
"Hehe, my mom's performance in the previous term was too good, so this term she's leading the 'Rocket Class.' You don't know, the Rocket Class is insane. High school students have classes on Saturdays. Ren Mo asked me to go to the factory area with him, it's far."
"Oh... I originally wanted you to ride in my family's car..."
"Zhuzhu, I... I'm afraid if we're together, it'll be too obvious, and your dad might want to kill me."
"It's not as serious as you think~"
"Zhuzhu, I'll come to your house to pay my respects at the end of the year."
"Ah???"
Ren Mo, who still had to drive someone tomorrow morning, was currently in a video conference on his laptop. The follower growth rate of his several Weibo accounts had started to slow down. Ren Mo was discussing with them how to increase followers.
The meeting lasted two hours. Seeing that the bloggers on the other end of the video were starting to yawn stealthily, Ren Mo finally ended the meeting. He then switched to a video call with his girlfriend, Sang Ling. Sang Ling had also returned to City C this time. Her Weibo income was quite good, and she could afford the plane ticket.
However, the two of them were on video but not talking. Sang Ling seemed to be reading, turning pages occasionally. Ren Mo, on the other hand, was writing a follower growth plan on his computer.
This left Ren Yuanying, who was secretly watching from behind the study door, utterly bewildered. She knew her younger son was dating, but...
Dating shouldn't involve going out shopping, watching movies, and dining? How could they have their cameras on, not talk, and do their own things? Was this considered dating?
After watching for a while, unable to understand, Ren Yuanying closed the door and went back to bed. Before sleeping, she glanced at the ornament on her bedside table.
Over the past few months, she had some doubts. Her elder son might actually be in love with Chenchen. Thinking about their current fake relationship.
"Sigh, Ren Yu, that bastard, he's so sly. I don't know how he tricked Chenchen. Tomorrow, I need to seize an opportunity to probe Fang Mei Zi."
With that, Ren Yuanying gradually fell asleep.
Liu Chen, in her dream, didn't know that so many people were preparing for tomorrow's factory opening ceremony. Unsure of what she was dreaming about, Liu Chen's sleeping face occasionally showed a smile.