"No, it's not necessary. You just need to make sure I don't see you from now on."
If she couldn't see him, perhaps she wouldn't feel so bad.
Jiang Qingqing lowered her head, tears falling with a pitter-patter.
Seeing this, Zhang Liunian lifted her chin, his brow furrowed. "You don't need to be so understanding. I'll be more mindful of such things happening in the future."
He would strive to prevent Jiang Qingqing from getting hurt.
However, sometimes accidents were beyond his control.
"Having your word is enough to put my mind at ease," Jiang Qingqing said, then buried her head in Zhang Liunian's embrace. Her eyes, however, were still fixed on the spot where Su Jie had bitten her, and her small hand unconsciously reached up to touch it.
Zhang Liunian, aware that she was still bothered by Su Jie's bite, suddenly clasped her small hand. With a press and a push, three faint scratches were left on his chest.
Jiang Qingqing was startled by this sudden turn of events. She pulled her hand away from his, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at Zhang Liunian. Her small face contorted in various expressions. "What, what are you doing?"
Why would he hurt himself like this? Didn't he know it would make her feel pained and distressed?
Jiang Qingqing was both anxious and worried. She leaned against Zhang Liunian's chest, starting to blow on the area. "Does it hurt? I'll go get you some anti-inflammatory herbs."
As she spoke, she tried to get up, but Zhang Liunian pulled her back into his arms, her body falling against him once more.
"I'm a man; this is nothing. It didn't even bleed, so there's no need for anti-inflammatories."
He thought to himself that it was just three nail marks, no need to make such a fuss.
"But why did you do that?" Jiang Qingqing, having been too anxious before, now looked at his chest and, seeing that it wasn't bleeding, realized the situation wasn't as bad as she had imagined.
"Because of this, you will forget what just happened," Zhang Liunian knew that as long as the bite marks were there, she would be sad every time she saw them. It would be better to remove them, so his wife wouldn't be sad when she saw them.
"You, why are you so foolish?" Jiang Qingqing, understanding his intention, burst into tears.
Zhang Liunian smirked but said nothing. He wasn't foolish at all; if he hadn't done this, he wouldn't have been able to sleep that night.
"Can you tell me about what just happened again? Why did it happen like that?" After calming her emotions, Jiang Qingqing rested her arm in Zhang Liunian's embrace and softly inquired.
The room was completely dark, and Zhang Liunian was almost asleep, but hearing his wife's words, he quickly rallied and recounted the events in detail.
"That's how it happened."
After Zhang Liunian finished speaking, Jiang Qingqing was stunned. She remembered that not long after dinner, she had walked down that same path and was perfectly clear that there were no stones near the well.
She walked very cautiously, afraid of falling. How could there be stones there after such a short time?
Jiang Qingqing didn't doubt Zhang Liunian's account, as she believed he wouldn't lie to her.
So, the questions were: first, why were there stones there, and second, why was Su Jie at the well so late?
To use the restroom? Impossible, she had a toilet in her room. Then why did she come out?
If she didn't think too deeply about it, it wouldn't seem like a big deal. But the more she thought about it, the more suspicious Jiang Qingqing became.
However, Su Jie was her only friend, and she didn't want to maliciously speculate about her.
For now, she would let this matter rest.
Meanwhile, in another room, Su Jie was so happy she couldn't sleep.
When she had thrown herself into Zhang Liunian's arms earlier, feeling his strength and presence, her heart had become even more envious of Jiang Qingqing for having such a near-perfect man who loved her.
Damn it, why didn't she have such a good man to love her?
"Crackling!"
The next morning, at the Zhang Family Pickles Factory, a grand opening was announced amidst a volley of firecrackers. Zhang Liunian stood at the factory entrance, looking at the familiar and somewhat unfamiliar faces as he began his speech.
"Today, my factory officially opens for business. We need to recruit about a hundred employees first. The treatment will be the same as for those other people: three yuan a day, from eight in the morning to six in the evening, with a two-hour lunch break. The positions will be filled by drawing lots, just like always."
As Zhang Liunian finished, a stir of excitement rippled through the crowd. Everyone spontaneously lined up, waiting for the stroke of luck.
Due to the high demand, half of the applicants were selected.
Those who were chosen cheered and jumped for joy, while those who were not selected felt disappointed and disheartened.
"There are still some families in our village where no one has been hired. Don't worry. When my factory stabilizes and we recruit again, you can directly select capable individuals from your households to start working here.
But I need to be clear from the outset: if anyone doesn't work properly at the factory, I will fire them. I'm hiring people to work for me, not to be treated like royalty."
Zhang Liunian also knew that a small portion of the village families had no one hired. To appease them, he directly stated that they wouldn't need to draw lots next time.
This pleased everyone in the village, and they all spoke highly of Zhang Liunian.
"Liunian, we will definitely work hard and not disappoint you."
"Liunian, you are truly the hope of our village, leading us all to a better life."
"With you here, Liunian, everyone in Zhang Village will become a worker. Thank you."
"Liunian, if you weren't married, I would have wanted to offer my daughter to you as a wife."
"..."
As Zhang Liunian listened to their increasingly outlandish remarks, he smiled and went with Zhang Hao to meet Zhang Shan.
Zhang Shan was the factory manager candidate recommended by Zhang Hao.
Upon seeing Zhang Shan, Zhang Liunian immediately searched his mind for information about him, but to no avail.
In both his lives, he knew nothing about Zhang Shan.
"This is my good friend Zhang Shan. We grew up together and experienced lean years and natural disasters. He used to help manage the communal kitchens for us. He has the ability to manage people. You can try him out for a month. If he doesn't work out, you can replace him," Zhang Hao said, knowing that Zhang Liunian wanted him to choose a factory manager as a way of reciprocating his kindness.
But he couldn't let Zhang Liunian down either. If Zhang Shan truly lacked the ability, he would support Zhang Liunian in replacing him.
After all, Zhang Liunian's factory was the hope for the entire village to live a better life. If Zhang Shan was indeed incapable, he would be the first to support a replacement to avoid jeopardizing Zhang Liunian's business.
Zhang Liunian looked at Zhang Shan, who remained expressionless, and nodded. Although he didn't remember anything about this person, he still had some faith in Zhang Hao's judgment.
"Alright, a one-month trial period. If he can manage the factory properly after a month, he will become the official factory manager," Zhang Liunian agreed readily. Zhang Shan glanced at the triumphant Zhang Hao beside him.
"Thank you, Liunian, for giving me this opportunity. I will do a good job," Zhang Shan stepped forward and expressed his gratitude.
Zhang Liunian waved his hand. "Work hard." He then went into the factory to supervise everyone as they arranged the equipment and began assigning their work.
As he left, Zhang Shan looked at Zhang Hao and said, "No wonder you're helping him so much. He truly is a fine young man."
Zhang Hao raised his head proudly. "Of course. My judgment has never been wrong. Trusting Liunian is much better than trusting Liuxing; that child has truly forgotten his roots!"
Most importantly, he had never felt a sense of belonging with Zhang Liuxing.
Although he was a golden phoenix who had flown out of Zhang Village, his heart was not here.
"Liuxing," Zhang Shan murmured with a sigh, thinking of Zhang Liuxing. He then followed behind Zhang Liunian, watching how he arranged everyone.
Zhang Liunian, having prior experience, found it easy to allocate work reasonably and motivate people.
"For now, this is the division of labor. If everyone performs well, they can be promoted to captain or team leader, and their wages will increase. Everyone, work hard."