Chapter 182: The Su Family Women Move In

As June approached, the weather in Bangye had already begun to heat up. Although it couldn't be compared to the sweltering heat of midsummer, the saying about spring drowsiness, autumn fatigue, and summer naps being quite reasonable.

Although the house wasn't fully renovated yet, the clutter in the yard had already been cleaned up. While Li Xian was away, Wang Qinghe had sent people to clear the weeds. Although the flowers and plants in the garden had been destroyed by the revolutionary committees and local committees later, leaving it barren, the pond still had lotus flowers. However, it was too early for the lotus to fully bloom; only the tips of the young lotus leaves were visible.

There were no dragonflies, only unknown little butterflies fluttering over the pond.

In the courtyard, Li Xian had set up a grandpa's chair. Not worried about the wind, he lounged in the shade, watching the large fish tanks by the pond in a semi-dreamy state. Beside him, the four elders—Wu, Zheng, Qin, and Wang—sat in a well-ordered and orderly manner, resembling old men from the capital.

"Passing through the corridor, going over the corridor, not long before reaching the west wing. Everyone says the west wing is good, indeed elegant and extraordinary. The entrance gate of clear water is adorned with a beast, with stepping stones on both sides. Climbing tiger on the shadow wall, fish tank behind the shadow wall. Lotus flowers grow in the water, gourd flowers half in shade and half in sunshine. The red ones are pomegranates, the white ones are jasmine, the blue ones are kingfishers, and the green ones are night-scented flowers..."

Old Qin yawned while looking at the scenery around him. Perhaps feeling too comfortable, he hummed along with a broadcast-style jingyun drum, which sounded like a two-person performance.

The other old men were stirred by Old Qin's noise and opened their eyes from their half-sleep. Wang Lin stretched and sat up from the grandpa's chair, saying, "Cold cloth on the windows, pavilion pool as a scene, the ceiling shades, and large fish tanks. Xiao Li, this house is really nice."

Zheng Weishi squinted and smiled, "Tree shadows by the Zhu family gate, flower shadows reflecting on the steps. It's so damned corrupt. Corrupt enough that I don't even want to go back to the rest place."

Seeing the three old men praising the house in a refined manner, Old Wu also wanted to say something. However, after scratching his head for a long time and reddening his face, he couldn't find the words.

Finally, he patted his thigh and exclaimed, "My godson bought this; how could it be bad?"

Seeing Old Wu's lack of cultural sophistication, Li Xian laughed, "My godfather is right!"

While Zheng Weishi and the others were joking about Old Wu, the sound of a car horn came from the gate. Before long, three figures walked over from the side of the shadow wall. Seeing the visitors, Li Xian quickly stood up and went to greet them.

Such a large house was rare in Northeast China. Even Wu Shengli and others were seeing it for the first time, not to mention Su Ya, who had never been outside the Forestry Bureau.

Although she tried her best not to look around, her curiosity was piqued by the flying eaves, tiled roof, and carved pavilions. She couldn't help but sneak glances.

When Li Xian, wearing a wide white shirt with the collar open and exposing half his chest, approached with a grin, she quickly looked away and focused on her toes as she walked forward.

Su Hui carried a large bundle in silence and supported a woman.

Li Xian approached and smiled at the woman Su Hui was supporting, "Auntie has arrived? Didn't I say everything here is prepared? Why bring so many things?"

The latter part of the question was directed at Su Hui, but it was answered by Su Hui's mother, "These are just daily necessities. Oh, it's already troublesome enough for me to come here. How can I let the host prepare everything? Xiao Li, I've heard Xiao Hui talk about you all the time, but I've never met you. I must thank you first."

Saying this, she took Li Xian's hand.

Li Xian was a bit flustered, thinking, even though I haven't met you, I did spend more than an hour on the bed next to yours that night. If you had better hearing, maybe there wouldn't be so much formality now.

We're family!

Su Hui's mother looked pale, with some silver in her hair from age and worry, but it was clear she was once quite a beauty.

Even though she was now supported by Su Hui and Su Ya, with a slightly hunched back and wrinkles on her face, she still retained a certain charm.

She also seemed educated and spoke quite politely. After a few words of thanks and pleasantries, she urged her son and daughter to settle in quickly and not delay work.

While Li Xian was reassuring them with "no rush, no rush," Old Wu and the others gathered around. Seeing the mother and daughter, the four old men's eyes lit up.

They glanced at the quiet and unspoken Su Ya and then at the overly polite Li Xian, and the four old men smiled with inscrutable expressions.

---

The Su family arrived close to noon.

Having survived the spring, Su's mother was feeling better, and not wanting to just live off her children's generosity, she proactively offered to cook.

Thinking that cooking three meals a day wouldn't be too tiring, and recalling Su Hui's mention of his mother's heart issues and how some work might be good for her, Li Xian agreed.

Unexpectedly, the first meal she cooked made Li Xian feel like he had struck gold.

The meal wasn't extravagant—just ordinary stir-fried dishes like mushrooms and eggs, green beans, and potatoes. There wasn't even any meat, but the black and yellow colors, with oil bubbles on the large pot of green beans, made it extremely appetizing.

The meal was infinitely better than the food in the rest place's cafeteria, and paired with the small liquor usually kept in the house, Old Wu and the others were already determined to stay here and not return for the time being.

Just as everyone was enjoying the meal, Zhu Feng burst in. Seeing it was mealtime, he didn't stand on ceremony and directly served himself a bowl of rice, joining Li Xian to report on the factory's second round of advertising efforts.

The day before, Li Xian had instructed him to restart the small distillery that had been halted since the takeover of the factory, utilize all production capacity, and ramp up production. Then, they were to go all out on advertising, expanding beyond Beilin and increasing the brand awareness of Bangye Xiaosheng.

Li Xian's plan was for provincial-level advertisements, but Zhu Feng thought TV ads alone weren't enough; they needed to combine with other activities. With the current good weather in late May and early June, it was the first busy farming season. Every household was busy working in the fields, needing help and provisions.

During this time, white liquor sales were among the best, besides autumn. He wanted to make the most of this period.

Seeing his usually gloomy uncle so energetic and brimming with ideas, Li Xian was pleased.

And even without considering the emotional factors, Zhu Feng's ideas were good; targeting city-level cities along the north-south route from Beilin, heading south towards Bingcheng and north towards Yichun. Along the public route, fighting on both the north and south lines, completely covering the city-level cities along the way in the next month.

The specific approach was to work with distributors to conduct free tastings, launch a large-scale flyer campaign, and offer bulk, affordable packaging for rural areas—dubbed as practical packaging to boost sales and capture the rural market during farming season.

The ideas were sound, and Li Xian had no reason not to support them.

Just as Li Xian and Zhu Feng were brainstorming on how to innovate the advertising methods and create a sensation with the activities, there was a sudden rush of footsteps at the gate.

Before long, Zhu Juan rushed in wearing cloth shoes, panting as if she had been running. 

Seeing Zhu Feng, she swallowed hard, steadied herself for a while, and then said breathlessly, "Big Brother! You... you need to go check it out. Something big has happened at the factory!"

Zhu Feng and Li Xian both stood up, "What happened? Slow down and explain!"

"Someone... someone drank our liquor and got sick, and their family has come to the door!"

Hearing this, Zhu Feng's chopsticks clattered to the ground, his face full of disbelief, "That's impossible! We've been selling liquor for so many years without any issues! The factory's liquor has always been managed by Dad. How could it harm someone? Sis, are you... kidding me?"

Zhu Juan stomped her foot, "Why would I joke with you?! That group of people almost smashed the factory gate! Dad has called the police! You need to go back and see for yourself!"

Saying this, she grabbed Zhu Feng.

While pulling Zhu Feng, she noticed Su Ya sitting on the steps of the side room, eating from a large bowl and curiously looking over.

Seeing Su Ya's bright eyes and delicate face, Zhu Juan was taken aback.

After a moment of thought, she grabbed Li Xian's hand and tucked it under her arm, saying, "Xianzi, my dad also wants you to go over quickly!"

Before Li Xian could respond, feeling the immense force pulling his arm, he was dragged

 away like a kite.

"My shoes! Hey! Hey hey hey! My shoes!"

Watching Li Xian being whisked away, leaving only a turned-over plastic slipper in the yard, Su Ya blinked and took another bite of her food.