Qian firmly believes that if a woman wants to live proudly as a queen, she needs to have an independent personality and a foundation to stand on. If she can’t manage that, she can only learn to compromise, restrain her temper, and become a traditional housewife, willingly sacrificing and contributing for the family. Who dares say this isn’t a simple yet happy way of life if that’s what she wants?

The worst thing is choosing a partner impulsively just because they’re male, and after marriage, the man doesn’t meet expectations, leading to disagreements and daily conflicts. Crying, acting out... life turns into a constant lament, wanting to change the other person without considering what she can do for herself.

Whether man or woman, as long as you don’t consider yourself or your spouse to be saints, you won’t make things difficult for yourself or others. Qian used this approach to help Zhuzi’s wife overcome barriers with her child, accept her imperfect ordinary self, and find ways to enhance her own value, thus demanding equal treatment from the partner. Otherwise, it’s torture for both sides.

Perhaps in the future, Zhuzi and his wife will face various schemes, concerns, trifles, and petty matters, but finding the right method will always allow them to get by. If they can’t make it work, Zhuzi’s wife will have her own independent survival skills, and whether to stay or leave will be her choice. That’s the ordinary life of ordinary people.

Qian kind of misses her Shaolin old monk... Among thousands of ordinary people, finding that extraordinary him makes her feel really blessed.

There’s a bit of time before the results are announced, so Qian finished dealing with household matters and returned to Lishi, just before Fugui gets back.

She can predict how her menopausal mom will react when she finds out Fugui hid his leg fracture from the family. As a "partner in crime," Qian would also get lectured for not reporting it, so she ran if she could.

To prevent her mom from calling to nag her, Qian simply turned off her phone.

Although it’s been days since she returned home, the place is spotless. Xiaoqiang must have been back overnight these days, and Qian could guess he returned late because she received his text near midnight last night.

She didn’t tell him she was coming back today, hoping to surprise him.

Her bay window now has a rustic, appealing small table. Qian walked over to touch it; it seems freshly made. It’s the huanghuali wood table she wanted?

She remembered casually mentioning before separating from Xiaoqiang that she wanted such a table. He took it to heart.

No idea if he made it or bought it, but this huanghuali has a faint fragrance of descending scent, indicating it’s top-quality sea-yellow. It looks newly crafted, and Qian knows how much money Xiaoqiang has, even if huanghuali isn’t costly now, he can’t afford it.

So he must have gotten it from her uncle Qi Yue and handcrafted it himself.

Qian stroked back and forth, the wood is indeed great, smelling it is refreshing, a definitely good item. What’s more commendable is Xiaoqiang’s woodworking, although not from master craftsmanship, is quite bold, excellently preserving the wood’s unique grain, not ruining this fine wood.

Qian studied her new furniture for a while, then a sudden idea came.

She turned on her phone, ignored the missed calls from her mom, and dialed her uncle Qi Yue.

"Uncle, did Laomao take wood from you?"

"Not just wood... He didn’t spare my bead string either, took several wooden boards alright, but snatched my newly made little jade Pearl pendant, claiming it’s for his future daughter. Qian, you have to talk some sense into him; this is outrageous. Around four in the morning, he jumped in through my window while I was asleep, I almost died of fright when I opened my eyes!"

Her uncle finally found someone to vent to.

This little tyrant is already infuriating people like a bandit!

"Eh? I only saw one small table; he took several boards from you?"

"Yeah, said one car couldn’t carry it all, next time he’ll bring a bigger car to make a small bed for his future daughter... Qian! He’s too much! Why so biased towards girls? What if it’s a boy, did he plan to let him sleep on the floor without a bed? Qian, can we negotiate, if you have a son in the future, return that Pearl pendant, okay? The quality is superb, both the jade streaks and clarity are rare!"

"...Uncle, are you just heartbroken over that Pearl pendant? If Yu Laomao knew you wanted him to have a son just for the pendant, not only won’t he return it, but he’ll also filch more pendants like dragon heads, idle plaques, or double dragons, which are much more valuable than the Pearl pendant."

Her uncle trembled, hurting over his loss...

"Now I see, you two are like mountain bandits, robbing and looting!" He hadn’t marveled enough at the Pearl pendant himself, with superb confidence intended for competition!

"Don’t say I don’t care for you, giving you a good tip."

"What?"

"Can you still buy the wood you’ve stored? Authentic huanghuali, sea-yellow!"

"Yes, do you want to buy it?"

"I’m just suggesting you buy more."

"It takes a lot of space, do you have room for it? From 20 a kilo four years ago, it’s now 100 a kilo, increased 5 times already, no much potential for surge. If you’re making furniture, just buy what you need."

"Trust me and buy! Dedicate one third of your liquid assets buying, and rent a warehouse for storage."

"Did you hear some inside news?"

"Only 5 times growth? It’s not over. Uncle, just buy it, select years with strong scent, don’t mind the price; if I don’t tell you to sell, don’t sell."

times, complacent? Over the next few years, that’s a hundredfold increase!

Of course, it’ll follow with a lengthy crash; wood, like Pu’er tea, is subject to hype, even as wild sea-yellow grows scarce, prices are high due to speculation. Qian aimed to let her uncle stock up now.

Last time Qian spoke to her uncle in this tone, two years ago, she advised him to buy rough stones en masse; her uncle made huge profits and naturally trusts Qian greatly.

"How much are you buying this time?" Her uncle thought Qian was investing too.

"Me?"

Qian recalled that man in white again, if she speculated on wood, she’d surely meet him again.

"I’m not buying; you buy it yourself."

Having already her family here in life, such romantic debts she prefers not to involve, money can always be earned, but she’d rather not see that person again.

Her ears seem to echo with the cartoon Xiaoqiang’s roars, roadside weeds don’t pick them, ow~