“I used to be well-off, but my dad made some mistakes at work a while ago. Our family pulled some strings to smooth things over, and we ended up spending almost all of our savings. In the end, it didn’t help much.”
As Xu Qiqi spoke, she let out a bitter laugh before continuing, “If it weren’t for my husband’s family stepping in to help, my dad’s situation wouldn’t have been as simple as just being transferred to a county-level position.”
A glamorous appearance was just a facade—every family had its own struggles, that was the reality.
Cheng Fangqiu hadn’t expected to touch upon Xu Qiqi’s painful memories. She quickly stepped forward and patted Xu Qiqi’s shoulder, her voice somewhat unnatural as she murmured in a low tone, “I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine, it’s not like you did it on purpose. Besides, it’s all in the past.” Xu Qiqi shrugged and curved her lips into a smile again. “I used to be supported by my dad, and now I’m supported by my husband. My life is still comfortable. It’s just that, although I’m still holding out my palm for money, it’s different now.”
This was one of the reasons she wanted to make money with Cheng Fangqiu.
After saying this, she looked at Cheng Fangqiu with eyes full of anticipation. “Qiuqiu, what do you think? Do you want to partner up with me?”
Cheng Fangqiu’s long lashes trembled slightly, and a flicker of hesitation and conflict flashed through her eyes. When she first heard Xu Qiqi’s proposal, she had felt equally tempted and reluctant. After all, she had a decent little fortune at hand, and Zhou Yinghuai had even said he would fatten up that little fortune even more in the coming days.
Even if she lay around at home like a salted fish, she could still live a comfortable life in the seventies.
But after hearing Xu Qiqi’s words, she changed her mind.
“Alright, let’s partner up.”
Money was a good thing—no one ever thought they had too much of it. Living in this world, one couldn’t do without money. Financial strength provided a tangible sense of security and confidence. Otherwise, why were so many people fighting tooth and nail to climb higher?
A marriage could have many uncertainties, but money could solve most of them.
Take her and Zhou Yinghuai, for example. Hadn’t she initially chosen him precisely because he was rich, powerful, and influential? One could say that as long as he didn’t cross any fundamental moral boundaries, she would probably never consider replacing him in this lifetime.
But no matter how well Zhou Yinghuai treated her, it couldn’t change the fundamental fact that her money and her husband’s money were two different things.
What was hers would always be hers, but her husband’s money wouldn’t necessarily always belong to her.
Although she never doubted Zhou Yinghuai’s reliability, it was always better to be prepared. Her own money was the most solid support and the most reliable fallback.
Besides, staying cooped up at home forever didn’t seem like a good idea either. It would be better to go out with Xu Qiqi, meet more people, and expand her social circle. That would be beneficial as well.
“Really?” Xu Qiqi let out a delighted cheer and clung to Cheng Fangqiu’s arm, shaking it excitedly.
Cheng Fangqiu saw how she acted like a child and couldn’t help but pat the back of her hand, smiling as she said, “I haven’t finished talking yet.”
Hearing this, Xu Qiqi immediately tensed up. “Go on.”
“No need for a 90-10 or an 80-20 split. How about we do 50-50?”
Since they were going to be business partners, they had to take it seriously. She genuinely liked Xu Qiqi, and when it came to money, she had never been stingy. In her past life, the assistants and business partners around her had always been well-compensated—far beyond the market rate.
And they had never let her down. Every job was executed swiftly and flawlessly, eliminating many unnecessary disputes. After all, when the money was right, everything else fell into place.
That was a true win-win situation.
Besides, Xu Qiqi had made finding customers sound easy, but in reality, just thinking about it made it clear how difficult it was. From making contacts, to confirming schedules, to arranging meetings, and then maintaining relationships…
Just thinking about it gave Cheng Fangqiu a headache.
“Huh?” Xu Qiqi was stunned at first, but when she finally processed the suggestion, she quickly waved her hands in refusal.
The two of them went back and forth, pushing and declining several times, until they finally settled on a 40-60 split—Xu Qiqi taking 40%, Cheng Fangqiu 60%.
“I’ll handle the client contacts and inform you two days in advance, okay?”
“Okay.” Cheng Fangqiu nodded. Aside from the wedding banquet at the end of the month, she didn’t really have much else to do at home.
After finalizing their agreement, the two of them started fiddling with the skincare products on Xu Qiqi’s vanity. Girls all loved these things—it was hard to walk away just by looking at them.
Many of the items were popular bestsellers from the department store. Under Xu Qiqi’s guidance, Cheng Fangqiu tried them all and ended up particularly fond of a jasmine-scented face cream. Compared to the snow cream she was currently using, this one suited her better—it wasn’t as greasy.
She planned to buy a box of it the next time she went to the department store. But before she could say anything, Xu Qiqi, noticing her interest, generously offered it to her. “I’ve barely used it, and when I did, I always scooped it out with the matching spatula. If you don’t mind, take it. And this hair cream too—it’s also jasmine-scented.”
Cheng Fangqiu didn’t bother refusing and accepted them with a smile.
At that moment, a tall figure appeared at the doorway, interrupting their conversation.
“Honey, you’re back?”
Before Cheng Fangqiu could react, Xu Qiqi flitted over like a butterfly and threw herself into the man’s arms, wrapping her arms around his waist and smiling sweetly.
The man was dressed in a white dress shirt and black trousers, a full head taller than Xu Qiqi. He had just returned home, still holding a briefcase in his hand. Seeing her rush over, a trace of helplessness flashed across his face, but he still reached out and caught her securely. “So reckless.”
As soon as he made sure she was standing steadily, he let go, pushing her aside in a reserved manner. Then, his gaze passed through his glasses and landed on Cheng Fangqiu. He gave a polite nod. “Hello.”
“Hello.” Cheng Fangqiu returned a smile, discreetly sizing him up.
The man had sharp and well-defined features, with a small brown mole on the tip of his nose that added a hint of allure.
His skin was fair, yet he didn’t appear the least bit effeminate. Instead, it made him seem even more refined and elegant. However, those deep, unreadable black eyes and the composed, authoritative aura surrounding him made it clear—this man was not simple.
At the very least, he was definitely not as approachable as he appeared on the surface.
Which made sense. Someone who could hold the position of deputy director at a major factory at his age wasn’t going to be an easygoing character.
Still, with a face and physique like that, he didn’t look like a man in his thirties at all…
“Honey, Qiuqiu and Comrade Zhou are staying for dinner tonight. Can you cook a table of Rongzhou cuisine?”
Xu Qiqi didn’t seem to mind being pushed aside in the slightest. This old-fashioned man loved to put on a serious act in front of others—she was already used to it. Instead of getting worked up over it, she figured she’d be better off acting spoiled to get what she wanted.
After all, he hated it when people made decisions for him.
Chang Yan’an shot Xu Qiqi a glance, but when his gaze met her bright, smiling eyes, his mind suddenly flashed back to last night—when she had looked at him with the exact same expression, over and over, urging him to hurry…
His Adam’s apple rolled as he reached up to adjust his collar, which suddenly felt a little too tight. He then nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll change and head downstairs.”
“We’ll go wait for you downstairs then.” Xu Qiqi cheered as if she was afraid he’d change his mind. She quickly grabbed Cheng Fangqiu and led her downstairs.
Halfway down, she suddenly remembered the invitation list and turned back to mention it. “I’ll bring it down later.”
Chang Yan’an paused for a moment as he was closing the door, then nodded. He watched them disappear down the stairs before casually setting his briefcase on the stool in front of the vanity. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the messy bed. The motion of unbuttoning his shirt came to a halt.
One deep breath wasn’t enough—he had to take another before he could finally calm himself.
He walked forward, carefully hanging her dress back in the wardrobe, then gently placing her treasured wedding gown back in its original spot. Lastly, he smoothed out the bedsheets. Only after finishing all this did he start changing his clothes.
By the time he came downstairs with the invitation list, the others were already sitting on the sofa, eating fruit.
Chang Yan’an handed the booklet to Zhou Yinghuai. “Take a look.”
“Alright.” Zhou Yinghuai reached out to take it and placed it on the table, flipping through a few pages. The list recorded the names of personnel from each department in the factory in great detail.
When he reached the page for the technical department, he had a rough idea in his mind.
“My parents said that regardless of whether we’re close to them or not, we must invite the leaders. If they come, that’s great. If they don’t, it doesn’t matter—we don’t lose anything either way.”
Xu Qiqi couldn’t remember her parents’ exact words, but the general meaning was more or less the same.
From the conversation, Cheng Fangqiu realized that the approach to invitations in this era was vastly different from the practices of later generations.
In the future, weddings would mostly involve inviting family and close friends. It was rare to invite one’s superiors or colleagues from work.
For one, handling gift money could be tricky—it might put pressure on the invitees, or worse, make them think the couple was just looking for a cash gift.
For another, people preferred to keep their personal and professional lives separate. After all, no one knew how long they would stay at a particular job—maybe they’d be working for a different company tomorrow.
In this era, jobs were iron rice bowls—one could start young and work until retirement, even passing the position down to the next generation. Everyone lived in company-assigned housing, making them not just colleagues but also neighbors. They would be dealing with each other for decades, so social etiquette and human relationships became especially important.
“Whether or not they come is their business, but whether or not we invite them is ours. They can choose not to attend, but we can’t choose not to invite. These formalities still need to be observed,” Cheng Fangqiu nodded in agreement.
It was just like how Zhou Yinghuai didn’t have many close friends at the factory, yet over the past two years, he had been invited to almost every banquet held there—and he never missed a single one. Even if he had other commitments on the day, he would ask Zhao Zhigao to bring the gift money on his behalf.
She didn’t know whether to call him sincere or just plain foolish.
Who knew how much money he had given away in the process?
Cheng Fangqiu gritted her teeth in frustration, secretly vowing to at least break even with their wedding this time.
“Where are you planning to hold the banquet? The factory cafeteria or a state-run restaurant?” Xu Qiqi asked eagerly. “Last time, we booked a state-run restaurant. It was expensive, but hassle-free—just pay the money, and they take care of everything.”
“If you go with the factory cafeteria, I think you need to submit a report and get approval before holding the banquet. You’d have to buy all the ingredients from the supply and marketing cooperative yourself, then find people to cook. If you want the cafeteria staff to do it, you’d have to give them a big red envelope on the side. But as you know, their cooking skills aren’t worth the price.”