The three brothers each had their own plans, calculated clearly. But they never thought about the two elderly at home, only taking without giving back.

Liang Weixiang and Li Daguo divided the family assets and went to the city for work. This was told to Zhang Dan by the eldest girl. Although Zhang Dan was surprised, she had no intention of going back home to see. She had enough of that home. Let them mess around, she was a married daughter and couldn’t manage that much. Besides, she couldn’t even take care of herself.

She planned to earn money diligently for a few years, buying a house was the serious business. Since her own home was no longer a place to return, she needed a house to settle in a city.

She was selfish too, as long as she was living well alone. The affairs of her mom and dad were too far from her to manage. Besides, if anyone were to step up, it should be her eldest sister. In the future, she just aimed to be a low-key and nameless person, never again being the troublemaker that everyone disliked.

.....

The affair within Liang Weixiang’s family was unknown to the Lin Family. After the New Year, Lin Wan was busy taking orders. A wholesaler had produced a batch of children’s performance costumes—quite a large amount. The processing fee was agreed upon, and they were rushing to meet the deadline. Meanwhile, over at Wang Leqin’s place, she no longer hired people to make her ordinary dresses, letting their factory do it instead. Only the high-end, pricey dresses were handcrafted by Wang Leqin herself.

Lin Wan’s factory was developing better and better. There were also more food stands around because the factory didn’t provide meals. Lin Wan thought about how those street food vendors might get chased away by city inspectors. Hence, she considered tearing down the surrounding walls to build a few commercial rooms to rent out.

With this idea, Lin Wan hired over a dozen masons to build one-story houses. The spaces weren’t large, all rented to those selling snacks and quick meals.

In just a month, the houses were completed. Lin Wan took a month to prepare before renting them out. She reserved two spaces, one for the sister-in-law on the floor above in their courtyard. One day while picking up her daughter from school, she ran into the sister-in-law who had just moved in. With her child growing older, she wanted to find a job to do. However, the job her husband found for her was either washing or cleaning. Laughing, she complained to Lin Wan, "These jobs aren’t worth it; I might as well sell my big noodles at a stall."

That’s when Lin Wan realized her sister-in-law was quite skilled at making noodles. Since her factory was recruiting nearby, she casually mentioned it. The rent she asked was inexpensive, with outsiders paying one hundred fifty a month, but she only charged her sister-in-law one hundred.

Unexpectedly, that night the sister-in-law discussed with her family and decided to go for it.

The other space Lin Wan saved was for someone in the city franchise who wanted to open a fried chicken shop. Lin Wan’s place was just right and close to their home. The monthly rent was one hundred fifty.

The fried chicken shop fit perfectly here since most of the factory workers were young and liked the taste.

The sister-in-law’s hot spring, after more than a year, was finally built and was undergoing interior decoration and recruiting. It just might be ready for a summer opening.

On this side, was another summer vacation ending. Parents and children mustered their spirits, especially Cousin and Gu Lin. Lin Wan saw how they shuttled kids daily, ensuring they received various nutrients and joined in their studies. Gu Lin’s place being right door-to-door meant she knew all too well. Every day, in the morning and evening, she accompanied Hanhan in studying, as both Yaoyao and Yangyang were entering their college entrance exams soon.

The couple hoped Hanhan would follow in their footsteps in Shede School, aiming to learn some technology. Hanhan was willing too, trying hard to achieve their dream of getting into the military department of Shede School. Yangyang was the same; it went without saying her brother-in-law would certainly get that boy into the military Shede School.

As for her cousin’s son Shuoshuo, Big Brother and Sister-in-law signed him up for an agricultural school.

Lin Wan was also extremely nervous since their child was about to take the high school entrance exam. Even though they hoped their child could attend a local high school nearby, if there were a better option and Little Star was willing to go, they would support it too.

In the past two months, the couple was especially nervous about Han Yi, who hurried home to tutor the child after each training session. On Sundays, he took his child to the city bookstore to hunt for past exam materials and helped Little Star analyze question types.

The couple divided their tasks; one taught math, the other taught English. Neither section was neglected. Little Star’s class teacher was also very responsible, printing up frequently encountered exam questions for every student.

By the end of June, the children finally breathed a sigh of relief. During the anxious wait for the results, Little Star was on edge, fearing a poor performance.

When the results came out, second place in the school, missing full marks by only five points. The score was excellent enough to get into the city’s key high school.

Once the results were out, the leaders of the high school came to her home several times, as did those from the city’s key high school, either calling or visiting them personally. All they wanted was to retain their good student. Though the courtyard’s elementary to high school hadn’t been established for long, the admission rate was quite high, with their middle school’s top ten just a hair off the scoreline.

Sister-in-law Jiang’s daughter Jingqing was in the courtyard’s high school and got into the elite military section at Shede School, and Wenqing also got into a top university. Their results weren’t bad at all.

"When the results hadn’t come out, my heart was in my throat; now that they have, it’s still worrying." During dinner that night, Lin Wan fretted.