"Pestering little sister?" Zhang Liunian's eyes darted, and he immediately understood Zhang Liuxing's intentions. It seemed he still wanted to figure out his formula, and judging by his smile earlier, he might have already obtained his ingredient package.
However, the thought that he could get his formula just by relying on the ingredient package was too wishful thinking.
He had ground all those ingredients into powder, mixing in many that were difficult to identify. Even if he got the ingredients, it would likely take him at least half a year to figure out all the components.
"I don't know what he's planning. Brother Liunian, you should still be careful," Zhang Qian blurted out, remembering his father's words.
"I will," Zhang Liunian said no more and entered the factory.
The Zhang family's pickled vegetable factory had now expanded to over five hundred employees, its reach growing ever wider. People from the surrounding ten-mile brigade even had the opportunity to join the factory.
Even those who didn't join the factory could sell pickles to it, with everything made being purchased. This had instantly doubled the price of glutinous rice in Datang County.
Seeing the thriving factory, Zhang Liunian was very pleased. He then took one-third of the huge sum he received yesterday and handed it to Zhang Shan to stock up on pickles.
He couldn't possibly hand over the entire amount at once; the quantity was too large, too much of a test for people's hearts.
Of course, fifty thousand was also a test, but he had been taking hundreds of thousands each time recently, so it didn't seem too conspicuous.
After briefing Zhang Shan on a few matters, the two of them went to the factory to check on the production status.
As soon as they finished, Yu Xiaohua arrived.
"Third child, your second brother is now unemployed. Can you give him a job, for the sake of him being your second brother?" Yu Xiaohua, having heard that Zhang Liunian had returned to the village, immediately rushed over after putting her grandson down.
Seeing his mother come specifically to find him for Zhang Liuxing, Zhang Liunian, who was talking to Zhang Shan, wore an unpleasant expression.
Zhang Shan, watching from the side, knew that Zhang Liunian and Zhang Liuxing had a strained relationship. He suspected it would not be easy to have Zhang Liuxing join.
As expected, after hearing Yu Xiaohua's request, Zhang Liunian directly said, "I will not let him in. Who knows if he'll stab me in the back one day. Besides, your second son is very capable; he found a patron in Nancheng long ago and doesn't need to worry about finding a job. It's just a pity that this patron is an opportunity he gained by betraying his own brother."
Zhang Liunian's words stunned both Zhang Shan and Yu Xiaohua. Had Zhang Liuxing actually betrayed Zhang Liunian?
"Impossible, second child isn't that kind of person," Yu Xiaohua immediately retorted upon recovering, refusing to believe that her always outstanding second son would do such a thing.
"He stole my money and saved the person who tried to kill me. What else is he incapable of doing?"
"Impossible, second child wouldn't do such a thing. This must be a misunderstanding."
"Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, he knows it clearly in his heart, Mom. My second brother and I are now in a life-or-death situation. Do you understand? Please don't come to me for his matters anymore. I will absolutely not help him."
"..."
Yu Xiaohua came with high hopes but left dejected.
Seeing Zhang Wenxue looking like a deflated rooster, he couldn't help but exclaim, "I told you, the third child would never agree. Now you know the result!"
"The third child said that their brothers are at a point of no return, and the second child seems to have done quite a lot. I don't believe it." Yu Xiaohua still couldn't accept that her proud second son would do such a thing.
But her youngest son was also her child, and his personality was quiet, not the type to lie.
"How could this be? They are brothers!" Zhang Wenxue's calm expression immediately turned to surprise. When did his two sons reach this point?
That's right, ever since the money was stolen last time, the two sons had formed a rift.
...
"Little sister, what did Zhang Liuxing want with you these past few days?" After seeing off Yu Xiaohua, Zhang Liunian went to the educated youth dormitory to find Zhang Xiaomei.
Seeing him ask about this, the latter also looked puzzled, "It seems he didn't want anything. He just came to talk and said he wanted to get closer."
Zhang Liunian sneered. Get closer? Even if the sky fell, that selfish Zhang Liuxing wouldn't get closer to anyone.
"Did you have any contact with the ingredient room today?" Seeing that Zhang Xiaomei was still unaware of the other's intentions, Zhang Liunian got straight to the point.
"Yes, I just sent a basket of ingredients to the factory a moment ago. He also asked me what it was. What's wrong, Third Brother?" Seeing Zhang Liunian's expression growing increasingly grim, Zhang Xiaomei became uneasy.
"Do you know how many packs of ingredients you took out? Are any missing?" Zhang Liunian was now one hundred percent sure that Zhang Liuxing had definitely obtained the ingredient packs.
"It seems three packs are missing. I thought I miscounted," Zhang Xiaomei said, her expression suddenly stiffening. Then, she said in disbelief, "Third Brother, are you saying that Second Brother has been pestering me these past few days for the ingredient packs?"
That's right, Second Brother had ideas about the formula before. Why was she so foolish as to take ingredients in front of him?
What should she do now? Would Second Brother sell the formula to someone else, thus causing Third Brother's business to fail?
Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaomei's eyes instantly reddened, and she grabbed Zhang Liunian's hand, "Third Brother, did I make a mistake and harm you? What should we do? If Second Brother gives the ingredients to someone else and they get the formula, will your factory go bankrupt? It's all my fault, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been soft-hearted thinking he was family and driven him away, he definitely wouldn't have had the chance to steal the ingredients. What do we do now? What do we do?"
If Zhang Liunian's factory truly went bankrupt because of her, she would never forgive herself.
"It hasn't reached that point yet. You don't need to blame yourself too much," Zhang Liunian said, placing his hands on her shoulders to comfort her.
But Zhang Xiaomei felt deeply guilty, believing it was her fault that she had implicated Third Brother. "Third Brother, you don't need to comfort me. This is my fault. If I hadn't been soft-hearted thinking he was Second Brother and family, I wouldn't have let him stay close and have the opportunity to steal ingredients. Your formula wouldn't be in trouble."
"Alas, even if they got the ingredient packs, they wouldn't be able to research it in a short period. Let's seize this time well and capture the market so they can't get involved. However, it's truly despicable that he used your feelings for him to do this. From now on, you must never listen to him again. He doesn't have any of us family members in his eyes, otherwise, he wouldn't have first stolen my money, saved my enemy, and now set his sights on you."
Zhang Xiaomei felt slightly better hearing her Third Brother say that even if they got the ingredient packs, they couldn't research it quickly, but it was only a slight improvement.
She had made a mistake in this matter, and she would definitely remember it for life, striving to give no one the opportunity to harm Third Brother in the future. However, she hadn't expected her Second Brother to have done so many bad things. "He's truly wicked. Why would he do this when we are family?"
"Perhaps he dislikes me. Who knows what he's thinking? We should stay far away from him in the future." This incident wasn't over yet. Once the Tang family discovered that they couldn't research the ingredient composition solely from the ingredient packs, they would surely send Zhang Liuxing to get the formula.
At that time, he could lure the snake out of its hole and capture Zhang Liuxing in one go, sending him to eat national food.
"Yes, I'll listen to Third Brother. I will definitely guard against him in the future and not give him any opportunity." Zhang Xiaomei was truly scared this time. If the other party researched the ingredients, she would be a sinner to the entire brigade.
The factory now had several hundred employees, but they all depended on Zhang Liunian. If his formula had an accident, the factory would surely have an accident too.
"Third Brother believes you," Zhang Liunian said, patting her shoulder to comfort her. Then, he chatted with her for a long time before leaving Zhangjia Village under the cover of night.