Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Xiao Jinlin stared in disbelief. "What kind of lame excuse is this? Chen Xinyue, if you're going to make an excuse, at least come up with a decent one. If it's because of Professor An, I can explain it to her, and Professor An definitely won't blame you."

Chen Xinyue's face flushed red with anxiety, and after a long pause, she finally managed to stammer, "I...I don't want to be in a relationship right now. You should find someone else!"

"I don't want to!" Xiao Jinlin pulled her to his side very naturally. "If you're only rejecting me because you don't want to be in a relationship right now, then I can wait. Let me know when you want to be in a relationship."

"Xinyue, don't rush to reject me, give me a chance."

Xiao Jinlin's gaze was sincere and honest.

Chen Xinyue wanted to find an excuse to refuse but was too embarrassed to make up a story, so she could only bite the bullet and agree.

Xiao Jinlin was satisfied and didn't pursue the topic any further.

They didn't bring up the topic again until the plane landed, and a tacit understanding developed between them.

After exiting the airport, Lao Fang waited by the roadside.

Seeing the two of them laughing heartily, he greeted them, "Boss, Secretary Chen, Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year, Uncle Fang!" the two said in unison.

Chen Xinyue instinctively reached for the passenger seat, but Xiao Jinlin gave her a look.

Uncle Fang immediately smiled and said, "Oh dear! I bought some this morning and put it on the passenger side footwell. Secretary Chen, why don't you sit in the back?"

Chen Xinyue suspected that Uncle Fang was lying to her. As soon as she got in the car, she craned her neck to take a look and found that there really was a bag under the passenger seat. She smiled awkwardly and obediently sat back down.

Uncle Fang asked curiously, "Boss, has the business deal in Anshi been finalized?"

Xiao Jinlin shook his head. "Auntie is too busy and can't manage. Perhaps we could invite her to the capital after the Spring Festival. What do you think?"

He looked at Chen Xinyue.

Chen Xinyue instinctively wanted to refuse, but then she remembered that Uncle Fang was in the car, so she immediately changed to a polite tone, "Boss, I think it's better not to. Since you have my mother's contact information, you can send an email or make a phone call. It's easy to resolve."

"Even if all else fails, I can always fly back, right?"

Xiao Jinlin immediately shook his head and refused, thinking of Qu Zhiyang, who was also eyeing Anshi. "Forget it, let's talk about this later. Uncle Fang, why don't we take Xinyue back to her dormitory first? Didn't you want to go see the new house?"

Chen Xinyue nodded hesitantly, "Let's go back and rest for a bit, and talk about it tomorrow."

"Add Uncle Fang's number and contact him to pick you up tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll arrange a car for you."

Chen Xinyue shook her head vigorously, "No need, it's fine as long as Uncle Fang picks me up."

She believed that if she hadn't chosen Uncle Fang for transportation, Xiao Jinlin would have really gotten her a car.

Old Fang listened with great interest, his mouth agape. "Great! Their icy CEO has finally seen the light! Congratulations!"
Chen Xinyue had no idea what Lao Fang was thinking. After arriving at the company dormitory, she dragged her large pile of luggage upstairs.

Once the door closed, I finally felt like I was alive again.

Before she could even let loose, Li Muchen called, inviting her to go shopping.

Considering this man was a money-making benefactor, Chen Xinyue didn't refuse, quickly tidied herself up, and went out.

With the new year comes a new look. Li Muchen changed her hairstyle, transforming her previous long, straight black hair into chestnut-colored wavy curls. She even changed her lipstick shade. She wore a tight-fitting red jumpsuit with a white fur coat, and accessorized with designer jewelry around her neck and on her wrists.

With those sunglasses on, she exuded the aura of a powerful, fiery-lipped boss, making Chen Xinyue appear even more delicate and gentle in comparison.

The two went shopping and, by sheer bad luck, bumped into Su Su and Guo Lingyue. Just then, Li Muchen spotted an outfit he liked, and Su Su, without even checking who they were, rushed over and snatched it, saying, "I want it, wrap it up."

Li Muchen was stunned for a moment, then exploded, "Seriously?! Are you out of your mind?! Don't you know what 'first come, first served' means?"

Su Su, with her neck stiff, didn't even give Li Muchen a proper look, only glaring at Chen Xinyue with jealousy, "Who cares about first come, first served when you're powerful and influential? Only a country bumpkin who's never seen the world would be so petty!"

She had investigated everything. Chen Xinyue's family was indeed doing well in Anshi, but that was only in Anshi. In the capital, the Chen family would be just ordinary people with no connections. The Su family was stronger than the Chen family, and Chen Xinyue was no match for her at all.

"Hiss! Who are you calling a country bumpkin?" Li Muchen roared in anger, abruptly pulling off his sunglasses.

Guo Lingyue, who had been waiting to see Su Su make a fool of herself, immediately changed her expression and quickly stepped forward to pull Su Su away. "It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding. I didn't expect it to be Miss Li. Su Su has only been in the capital for a short time and didn't recognize Miss Li. I'm so sorry."

Li Muchen didn't even glance at Guo Lingyue before stepping forward and slapping Su Su across the face.

The crisp, loud slap attracted a crowd of onlookers.

Su Su covered her face in disbelief. "You dare hit me? You actually dared to hit me! I'll fight you to the death!"

Li Muchen immediately went to greet him.

The two women were tearing at each other.

Guo Lingyue hurriedly tried to break up the fight, but was accidentally injured several times.

Chen Xinyue felt embarrassed to stand by and watch, so she went over under the pretext of trying to break up the fight, but actually helped Li Muchen beat up Su Su.

After Chen Xinyue joined, Su Su turned all her firepower on her, but she did not expect that Chen Xinyue was not the kind of weak woman who could not lift a finger.

Moreover, Chen Xinyue has studied dance, so her flexibility is exceptional.

Dodging Su Su's attacks was effortless; each attack aimed precisely at a vital point.

Su Su screamed in pain, tears streaming down her face.

Guo Lingyue was so angry that she felt like her brain was about to explode.

The two sides had already ceased fighting when the police arrived.

It wasn't that Chen Xinyue and Li Muchen lost, but rather that they beat Su Su so badly that they found it boring.

"what happened?"

Guo Lingyue's expression changed slightly. She wanted to downplay the incident, but Su Su was unhappy and cried out that she had been beaten.

Li Muchen was not someone to be trifled with; she immediately and confidently demanded that the police retrieve the mall's surveillance footage to prove her innocence.

After careful examination, the police confirmed that Su Su had started the trouble. As for Chen Xinyue's later involvement, it was because Guo Lingyue had gotten involved first. It was reasonable for Chen Xinyue to help her friend. In addition, both Guo Lingyue and Li Muchen had powerful connections, so the matter could only be dropped.

After winning the battle, Li Muchen and Chen Xinyue's relationship improved even more.

The two went to eat hand in hand, completely ignoring Su Su and Guo Lingyue.

Guo Lingyue was furious. She took Su Su, who was covered in injuries, back home and complained to Mu Qinglian, "Mom, Uncle's girlfriend is really outrageous! She actually let her friend beat Su Su up like this!"
She knows perfectly well that I'm Jinlin's sister-in-law, yet she's showing me such disrespect; she clearly doesn't respect the Xiao family!

Mu Qinglian was horrified by Su Su's pitiful state. Upon learning that Chen Xinyue was involved, she couldn't tolerate it any longer. She immediately contacted Xiao Jinlin, berating him harshly, "What's wrong with your boyfriend? He hit Su Su in front of your sister-in-law! Does he have a problem with you, your sister-in-law, or our Su family? Bring people back immediately to apologize!" (End of Chapter)