Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Sooner or Later, Protecting the Little Girl Under His Wings

Xu Weiping and his wife were already well aware of Zhou Mochen’s existence. They probably wouldn’t even have any objections if Xu Su stayed out all night.

However, if their daughter really did stay out all night, they would probably start hiking up their price.

Xu Su knew perfectly well what kind of parents she had, and Zhou Mochen understood her family’s situation even more clearly.

Although he really wanted the young woman to just stay with him instead of going back to her parents to be mistreated, Zhou Mochen held back.

Even if he had no ulterior motives, saying something like that could easily be misinterpreted.

Zhou Mochen nonchalantly steered the car, thinking to himself, ’Sooner or later, I’ll have her under my wing, and no one will be allowed to give her even the slightest bit of grief.’

It was already past eight in the evening when she got home. The three members of the Xu Family were in the living room watching TV.

Seeing Xu Su return, Chen Shulan stood up and asked a few concerned questions. After learning that Xu Su had already eaten, she didn’t press her on where she had her meal.

Xu Su had a pretty good idea. ’Zhou Mochen must have dropped a hint through someone again.’

Something suddenly occurred to her.

Xu Su spoke up, asking, “Did Dad get a new position at work?”

Chen Shulan was taken aback. The hand reaching for Xu Su’s schoolbag paused for a moment, then a look of pleasant surprise spread across her face. “The old factory director only just let it slip today that they’re planning to transfer your dad to be a workshop director. How did you already know? Susu, where did you hear this news?”

Xu Weiping also shot to his feet, his face flushed with excitement. “My good girl! I knew it! How could a good thing like becoming a director ever happen to a mover like me with no connections? I have my daughter to thank for this!”

The textile mill was a huge factory with tens of thousands of workers. Even a minor workshop director was in charge of several hundred people, a position coveted by countless workers with connections and backing.

Xu Weiping was just a manual laborer who sold his strength. He had no management skills, nor was he particularly savvy or tactful. The couple had worked at the factory for over a decade, going from new employees to veterans without their positions changing one bit.

Good opportunities just never came their way.

But as soon as they brought their oldest daughter back to live with them, good things started happening one after another.

First, during last year’s subsidized housing allocation, their family leapfrogged many employees with more seniority and higher positions to get a new three-bedroom apartment.

And now, with this year’s vacant workshop director position, the old factory director was hinting that it would be given to Xu Weiping.

For the Xu Family, this was no different from a pie falling out of the sky.

The couple had long suspected it might be thanks to their daughter, but they hadn’t dared to say it outright. They never expected her to be the one to bring it up.

Xu Su hadn’t expected to be right.

In her past life, she remembered Xu Weiping getting promoted not long after her second year of high school began. From then on, her status in the Xu Family had skyrocketed. Her parents’ attitude toward her could only be described as fawning—even more so than now.

’Thinking back, Zhou Mochen must have been completely direct about his intentions with my parents back then. Not like now, where he’s being all ambiguous and making them guess.’

Watching the excited and pleasantly surprised expressions on her birth parents’ faces, Xu Su felt completely disheartened.

She forced a stiff smile. “I just guessed.”

Xu Weiping was about to ask more.

Xu Su cut him off, “I’m going to go wash up. School starts tomorrow, so I have to get up early. I’m going to bed.”

~~~

「July 16th. The weather was clear, and the temperature was extremely high.」

Early in the morning, Xu Su finished packing the things she needed for boarding school and left the house.

In the car, Zhou Mochen had prepared breakfast for her: a well-balanced sandwich and a bottle of yogurt.

She finished it just as they arrived.

Zhou Mochen sounded a little melancholy. “Back to the dorms again. Susu, I’m realizing it’s really hard to get to see you.”

“…” Xu Su grabbed a napkin to wipe her lips, shot him a sideways glance, and said, “If you’ve got nothing better to do, watch the news and work on building up the country. Don’t get bogged down in petty romance all the time.”

It was the first time he’d ever been lectured like that. He froze for a second, then burst out laughing. “I know, I know. I am trying. Why do you think I came to Chang City? Isn’t it to help contribute to the economic development here?”

’More than just “contribute,”’ she thought. ’To put it dramatically, isn’t he practically single-handedly driving Chang City’s economy?’

This era was a time of great opportunity, with everything being rebuilt from the ground up. Cities all over the country were desperately trying to attract wealthy investors, and they were especially solicitous toward foreign and Hong Kong businessmen. Cash was king.

As long as there was an injection of hard cash, all sorts of policies could be relaxed. In some of the faster-developing provinces and cities, the changes were happening practically overnight.

Xu Su didn’t know exactly how much money Zhou Mochen had invested in Chang City, but she knew that the projects he invested in would indeed become the city’s landmarks in ten years.

He had a unique vision, able to see the potential in the land in the Old Industrial Zone north of the city, which was currently considered quite remote. His skill was one factor, but the sheer amount of capital he was investing was another.

For Zhou Mochen to choose to invest in an obscure little inland city like Chang City was probably partly out of consideration for it being his maternal grandparents’ hometown. Otherwise, a place like Chang City really wasn’t anything special.

’Then again, if he hadn’t come to Chang City to invest, he naturally never would have met me…’

After saying goodbye to a reluctant Zhou Mochen, Xu Su carried her luggage back to her dorm room. Qian Jia had already arrived the day before.

She was munching on a piece of bread, and when she saw Xu Su come in, she scurried over and threw her arms around her. “I haven’t seen you in half a month! I missed you guys so much!”

Xu Su laughed and patted Qian Jia’s shoulder. “Let go for a second, I’m still carrying my stuff.”

Qian Jia started chattering about the fun things she did at home during the summer break. She said her uncle’s family was building a house, so she helped out for a few days and got tanned as dark as charcoal.

Xu Su looked at her and saw that in the half-month they’d been apart, Qian Jia had indeed gotten a bit tanner and a bit thinner.

Before long, Huang Feng also arrived, fashionably late, and the room became lively again.

Huang Feng had a very fulfilling summer vacation. She’d signed up for a cram school and taken swimming lessons. According to her, she had even gone on a trip to Beijing with her brother to see the flag-raising ceremony.

Qian Jia was very envious. She had lofty ambitions. “I’m definitely going to university in Beijing! My first choice is University B! I want to watch the flag-raising ceremony every day!”

After speaking, she looked at Xu Su with shining eyes, seeking validation.

Xu Su: “…”

In her past life, she had gone to university in Beijing. In this life, Xu Su’s initial plan had been to steer clear of Beijing entirely, just to avoid running into Zhou Mochen.

But now that Zhou Mochen had already latched onto her, it seemed like it didn’t matter whether she went to Beijing or not.

She had a reasonable suspicion that even if she went to university in the Northwest, Zhou Mochen would probably follow her there.

Starting today, the three of them were now second-year high school students. The question of which university to apply to had become a regular topic of conversation.

While Xu Su remained silent, Huang Feng couldn’t hold back any longer. “I want to go to university in Beijing too,” she said. “My first choice is Q University, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get in.”

They both had their goals set. Xu Su chimed in, “Since you both are aiming for Beijing, I guess I will too. I don’t want to be separated from you guys. I’ll just go to whichever one accepts me.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep