Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 318 is what he said himself.

Lin Qingping took the car home again, feeling dazed and confused the whole way, her face still wet with tears.

When they got home, Zhong Xiaoxiao was startled. "What happened to you?" Wasn't you going out to discuss business? How did you end up like this?

"Is business not going well?" Zhong Xiaoxiao asked worriedly.

Lin Qingping composed herself, shook her head, and smiled, "I'm fine."

"Then...would you like to wash your face and rest for a bit?" Zhong Xiaoxiao asked. "Have you eaten yet? Sister Zhao left some food in the kitchen."

"I'll go wash my face first," Lin Qingping said with a smile.

Wash your face and calm down.

However, even after washing my face, I didn't feel much more awake.

She sat in the room, opened a drawer, and took out the gold necklaces.

She specially found a box and neatly placed several ribbons together. One of them was a gift from Zhiyuan, and the one on the far right was the one that Gu Juncheng didn't give her this year. It fell on the ground and she picked it up from there.

The pendant is that spinning top.

"Gu Juncheng, you're not trying to make up for my childhood, are you?"

"You had a rather pitiful childhood."

"We didn't have candied hawthorns when we were kids."

So, this spinning top came about?

But Gu Juncheng, when we girls were little, we didn't even have spinning tops. At least, my second sister and I didn't have any. We only had to cut grass, chop firewood, and wash clothes...

"You had a rather pitiful childhood."

She used to think that the phrase "when she was little" was something he had heard from others, or something she had unintentionally revealed. Little did she know that he had actually seen it with his own eyes, and that he was the one who had pulled her out of the water when she was little.

"The bottle?" Sister Zhao called to her from outside.

She quickly packed her things and went outside. "What's wrong, Sister Zhao?"

"Lianzi sent a telegram today saying she wants to send the wheat back first, but I don't know how she's going to do it."

"Send the wheat back first?" Lin Qingping was quite surprised. She had specially taken the wheat to reunite with Du Gen, and after only a few days, she wanted to send the wheat back.

"Yes, it's not clear in the telegram either."

Lin Qingping thought for a moment and said, "I'll call Meili's factory tomorrow and ask them directly."

"Okay, shall I heat up some rice for you, or cook some noodles?" Sister Zhao asked with concern.

Lin Qingping touched her face, and seeing that there seemed to be nothing wrong, she nodded and said, "Let's eat. Don't bother cooking again."

She's not the kind of person who loses her appetite or wallows in self-pity because of relationship problems; she needs to be well-fed to have the energy to fight back!

Zhong Xiaoxiao was genuinely worried about her, and only felt relieved after seeing that she was eating well.

Lin Qingping forced herself to stop thinking about Gu Juncheng and slept well that night. The next day, she still went to see Wu Tianjiao. Besides discussing business, she also needed to borrow her phone at the mall.

"I told you I'd install one for you, but you wouldn't." Wu Tianjiao chuckled at her.

"Mainly because there's hardly anyone to call!" Lin Qingping, who had returned from the smartphone era, certainly knew the convenience of telephones. However, in this day and age, very few households had telephones. Who would they call if they installed one?

The call was made directly to Mei Li's office, and Mei Li answered. Lin Qingping asked her to call Gu Youlian over.

"Wait a minute." Mei turned to call her assistant to fetch someone, then chatted with Lin Qingping, "Pingzi, what are your plans?"

"What do you mean, what are your plans?" This inexplicable question.

“Wu Tianping is going to be stationed there for many years. I’m torn about whether to go with him. But my garment factory is thriving. I want to be Mei Li, not so-and-so’s wife. But I can’t bear to leave him…” Mei Li has always been very open and frank about her reluctance to leave him.

“What’s so difficult about that? Just be Mei Li. Does that mean you’re not Wu Tianping’s wife? Does that kid dare to mess around in the army?” Wu Tianjiao replied.

It must be said that Wu Tianjiao, as a sister-in-law, is truly one of a kind.

"Sister, I..." Mei Li chuckled, "Never mind, let me think about it."

Mei Li pressed Lin Qingping for details, asking if she was going to abandon her and the factory to leave with Gu Juncheng.

As they were talking, Gu Youlian arrived.

"Your sister is here, I'll let her talk." Mei Li was so busy with one thing that she forgot to ask Lin Qingping her question and handed the phone to Gu Youlian.

"Bottle," Gu Youlian called to her from the other end of the line.

"Sister, what happened? Why did you send the wheat back? Who sent it? You?" Lin Qingping asked a series of questions.

Gu Youlian laughed on the other end, "Hahaha, I just acted on impulse. I saw some really good performances by little girls here, and I was thinking that Xiaomai should go to the Children's Palace to learn singing and dancing during the summer vacation, instead of wasting time here. But Dugen said that he couldn't bear to part with his daughter since he finally got to see her. I was just about to send another telegram today saying that I'm not going back."

It turned out to be the case.

"Okay, are you and Xiaomai doing alright over there?"

"Okay, okay, what's wrong with it? It's close to our hometown, and we're used to everything here! What about you?"

"I'm fine with that..." Lin Qingping's heart stirred, and she suddenly remembered something. "Sister, I have a question for you, do you know what it is?"

"you say!"

"Sister, it was you and Mother who came to my house to propose marriage back then..." Lin Qingping was a little embarrassed when she talked about the past. She turned around and glanced at Wu Tianjiao, who winked at her, clearly laughing at her.

“Yes, yes,” Gu Youlian quickly replied.

Lin Qingping glared at Wu Tianjiao, too lazy to care anymore. "Sister, I want to ask, how did you come to my house? How did you know me?"

She originally thought there was a matchmaker, but if there was a matchmaker, it shouldn't have been Liu Fen and Gu Youlian who came on their own.

"Ha!" Gu Youlian said, "How would we know you? You're Gu Gousheng..."

"Wait, sis, what did you say?" Lin Qingping keenly caught the two words.

"Cough cough..." Gu Youlian felt that she had made a big mistake. She wanted to laugh, but she had to hold it in. "It was Chengzi. He said it himself."

"He said it himself?" The shock of this statement made Lin Qingping forget the name Gu Youlian had just mentioned.

“Yes!” Gu Youlian said, “Chengzi is in the army and hasn’t talked about marriage for a long time. My mother is very anxious. Every time she writes, she urges him, but he never gives a definite answer. Later, she told him to get engaged to Chen Xia. He knows her well and he agreed. Now that they’re engaged, he doesn’t come back even once a year. When he finally comes back, he brings Zhiyuan with him and wants to raise him as his own son. Chen Xia’s family is not happy about this. Then, for some reason, someone introduced Chen Xia to someone from the city. The Chen family started making a fuss about breaking off the engagement. My mother was very angry and even made me write to Chengzi about it. Chengzi replied very decisively, ‘Then let’s break it off.’”

Gu Youlian suddenly became alert as she spoke, "Why are you asking about something so far away again? You two..."

"There's nothing between us, sister, please continue. I just want to know," Lin Qingping quickly said.

Gu Youlian was genuinely worried about the two of them. Of course, it would be best if they could reconcile, so she didn't hide anything and told her everything that had happened. "Pingzi, I'm telling you the truth. My brother, although he's a bit reserved, I can still tell from his reaction to the marriage. He wasn't sad at all about breaking off the engagement with Chen Xia, but I've seen him go through all this turmoil with you these past few months. He's really heartbroken..."

"Sis, we're talking about going back, not this."

“Alright then,” Gu Youlian continued, “Chengzi said he was canceling the engagement, and that’s how my mother got even more anxious. He’s in the army, so he doesn’t have any chance to meet girls. Chen Xia, who grew up with him in the village, doesn’t want him anymore. Where is he going to find a wife? My mother is so worried. She’s been writing letters urging him to get married. If he doesn’t get married soon, he’ll be almost thirty. In the village, if you’re not married by thirty, you’re considered an old bachelor. Later, Chengzi came back once, and my mother forced him to go on a blind date, but he refused. When a girl wanted to come to his house, he turned around and went back to the army.”

Lin Qingping: ...Sis, can you get to the point?

"My mother was so angry that she almost applied to visit her husband at the military base to see his superior. Just then, Chengzi wrote to us, telling us to go and propose marriage to a girl from Linjia Village named Lin Qingping. He specifically instructed us to make the situation clear: she had broken off her engagement and had a child. We couldn't deceive the girl, and we could offer more dowry. My mother was overjoyed and didn't know what to do. So, my mother and I went to propose marriage."

It turned out to be like this...

He actually wanted to marry her himself?

She still believed that it was her mother-in-law, Liu Fen, who had taken a liking to her and proposed marriage.

But why?

Why was he so certain it was her?

Even Gu Youlian couldn't answer this question.

"You'd have to ask my brother himself! Maybe you two had some other connection?"

What kind of fate could there be?

It couldn't have been the time he saved her. Back then, she was like a leek, not fully grown yet, and her complexion was similar to that of a leek.

But if not, when have they seen each other again?

After hanging up the phone, Wu Tianjiao looked at her and smiled.

On the other end of the phone, Gu Youlian put down the phone, her smile fading and replaced by sorrow.

Mei asked her with a smile, "Finished the call?"

Gu Youlian quickly forced a smile, "Yes, it's over."

After saying that, he lowered his head and hurried away.

Lin Qingping was thoroughly ridiculed by Wu Tianjiao, with questions like, "You won't only find out what Gu Jun is like after you get married, will you?" "Does he meet your expectations?" "Weren't you awkward meeting on your first night together?"

Lin Qingping acted as if she wasn't afraid of being scalded by boiling water, letting Wu Tianjiao mock her no matter what.

Wu Tianjiao lost interest. "Ugh, you're so boring!"

"Interesting, interesting! Let's talk about how to make your factory interesting!" Lin Qingping was genuinely there for business.

Time is running out; she needs to make a feasible plan for her future!

If Wu Tianjiao wants to open a factory, then she will work with the two of them to open it!

Wu Tianjiao finally decided to open a cosmetics factory, mainly producing women's skincare and makeup products.

Lin Qingping is very optimistic about this product category.

For many years afterward, the demand for women's skincare and cosmetic products was huge, but foreign brands always dominated the market. Although some domestic brands tried to break through, foreign brands still held the upper hand.

Currently, most women are still at the stage of applying face cream. Lin Qingping's idea is not to take too big a step at first, but only to be slightly ahead of face cream. As for cosmetics, there are traditional brands that have been making them, from powder to blush, eyeshadow and lipstick. The market demand is not large at present, but the establishment of a brand, from research and development to the establishment of production lines, is not something that can be done in a short time. They cannot wait until the market opens up before they rush to catch up with the market. They must stay a little ahead of the market.

The investment is actually quite large. The first step is to assemble a skincare product research and development team and establish a laboratory. To this end, Lin Qingping specifically went to the chemistry and biology departments of the university to find people who were interested in this, while Wu Tianjiao had already begun to prepare to purchase laboratory equipment.

Just as Lin Qingping was busy with work, Zhong Xiaoxiao disappeared.

When Lin Qingping returned home, she only found a note left by Zhong Xiaoxiao, which said that she had to go back to her hometown urgently.

After that, there was no further news of him.

As a week passed, Lin Qingping became increasingly worried and decided to visit Zhong Xiaoxiao's hometown.

Even if it's meddling, I'll just consider it a way to put my mind at ease.

Of course, she didn't go alone; she invited Yunqi and He Xin to go with her.

Zhong Xiaoxiao's home is in a county in a neighboring province.

Lin Qingping knew the approximate address.

The county town is not big, and Zhong Xiaoxiao is one of the few college students in the county town, and she is from a university in the capital. It is not difficult to find out by asking around at the school or the education department.

Sure enough, as soon as this person was mentioned, the education department knew about him. Back then, when this college student came from the county, the education department had sent him a congratulatory letter.

However, when they arrived at Zhong Xiaoxiao's house, the door was locked and no one was inside.

When I asked the neighbors, they all closed their doors, as if trying to avoid me at all costs.

This is even stranger.

Finally, an old woman quietly called them aside and told them that Zhong Xiaoxiao's lover was from a certain village and should have returned to his village.

"Don't say I told you," the old woman repeatedly warned.

Lin Qingping had a bad feeling: Could it be that Liu Dong's family was some kind of evil force? Is everyone afraid?

Yunqi also said, "Sister, knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. We are unfamiliar with the place and the people, so it might be inappropriate for us to rush into the village."

"Why don't we call the police?" He Xin suggested.

Yunqi shook his head. “Calling the police won’t solve the fundamental problem. We don’t know what happened. Liu Dong and Zhong Xiaoxiao are husband and wife. If Liu Dong didn’t do anything harmful to Zhong Xiaoxiao, how will the police handle it? We don’t even have a valid reason to call the police. What can we say? That Zhong Xiaoxiao went back to the village with her husband and we can’t find her and are worried about her? That’s not a valid reason to report a case.”

"What should we do then?" He Xin was familiar with Zhong Xiaoxiao and was a little anxious, unlike Yun Qi, who was calm.

Lin Qingping understood what they were saying, and she was also thinking about what to do.

If she wasn't mistaken, Gu Juncheng had mentioned that the things she had entrusted to him were already arranged, and someone would contact her when the time came; he must have been referring to this matter.

But how did he arrange it? And who did he arrange it with?

I didn't ask clearly at the time because I never expected Zhong Xiaoxiao to go home alone.

Now, how can she find out about the "arrangement" he mentioned?