A charming widow in her 70s married a factory manager and raised his children.

After Sun Yongxian came in, she greeted Lu Congyue and said she was looking for Zhuang Qingxiang.

Lu Congyue pointed to the curtain: "Ask her if she's asleep."

"No, come in," Zhuang Qingxiang replied.

Sun Yongxian went inside with a smile.

The three children were all around Zhuang Qingxiang. One greeted her in a childish voice, "Auntie Sun," while the other two babbled and whimpered. Zhuang Qingxiang leisurely fanned herself with a palm leaf fan, reminding Sun Yongxian of the phrase: "peaceful and serene."

"Sister Zhuang, you and Director Lu, one inside and one outside, have such a harmonious atmosphere, it's like a family."

The relaxed Zhuang Qingxiang suddenly tensed up, threw down her fan, and whispered as she covered her mouth: "What nonsense are you talking about?!"

Sun Yongxian didn't take it seriously at all: "Oh, don't be nervous, I was just joking, Director Lu won't be angry."

In the outer room, Lu Congyue put down the book he was holding.

"Ahem... You guys chat first, I'm going out for a bit."

As soon as Lu Congyue left, Zhuang Qingxiang scolded, "Don't joke around like that again. If Factory Director Lu takes it seriously and fires me, I'll have nowhere to go."

She lives very cautiously; losing her job because of a joke would be a huge loss.

Seeing that Zhuang Qingxiang's face had turned pale with fright, Sun Yongxian knew that she was really scared, so she quickly apologized.

"Everyone says that Director Lu is terrifying when he's at work, and just as terrifying after work. Sister Zhuang, you've been wronged," Sun Yongxian said sympathetically.

"No, Director Lu is just that serious, isn't he? You'll get used to it; he won't deliberately make things difficult for me," Zhuang Qingxiang explained. "Why did you come at this time? Is something wrong?"

Sun Yongxian immediately smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, that's a good thing."

She leaned closer to Zhuang Qingxiang and whispered, "Let's talk about this secretly, do you want to earn some extra money?"

Zhuang Qingxiang's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously asked, "W-Won't we get arrested?"

"Oh dear, how could that be? It's just factory workers helping each other out, it's not like we're doing business," Sun Yongxian said immediately. "My neighbor saw your handkerchief. Her child is always so naughty, his clothes are always torn or ripped. She was wondering if you could help fix it, maybe embroider a pattern on it?"

They only had one child, and the dual-income family had money. They didn't want their child to wear patched clothes, but they also didn't want to waste the clothes. They thought it would be best if Zhuang Qingxiang could embroider a pattern, which would be both beautiful and save on fabric.

"Is the clothing badly torn? I need to take a look." Zhuang Qingxiang didn't try to take full responsibility.

"I brought it!"

Sun Yongxian took out a child's shirt and two pairs of pants from her cloth bag. They were clearly made for a boy, with worn-out elbows and knees and torn sleeves.

Sun Yongxian clicked her tongue and said, "Boys are too naughty. The kids in our kindergarten are the same. Looking at them, I don't even want to have children anymore."

Zhuang Qingxiang thought that was nonsense. Who wouldn't want children? Children can be naughty, but some are well-behaved and cute, like her little Qian Yue.

She glanced at it and said, "It can be fixed. Wait a moment, I'll get it done for you in a bit."

Zhuang Qingxiang took out the scraps of cloth and embroidery thread that Sun Yongxian had brought earlier, selected suitable colors, and clamped them with embroidery frames before starting to repair them.

Meanwhile, Lu Congyue walked all the way to Sun Yongxian's house.

Upon seeing him, Shi Peiran quickly ushered him inside, saying apologetically, "Director Lu, did Yongxian disturb you when she went to see Comrade Zhuang?"

"No," Lu Congyue said calmly.

Shi Peiran and Sun Yongxian had not yet had children and lived in a one-bedroom apartment allocated by the factory. Perhaps because of Shi Peiran's profession, the house did not have many things, was kept clean and tidy, and had a faint smell of disinfectant.

Lu Congyue glanced around and felt that his own place was more comfortable, and the air smelled better than here.

Then he saw the handkerchief hanging out to dry, and the embroidered pattern on it looked very familiar.

Shi Peiran noticed his gaze and said with a smile, "Comrade Zhuang's embroidery is quite good."

"Did Zhuang Qingxiang give it to you?" Lu Congyue asked.

"These are for Yongxian... to be precise, Yongxian shamelessly asked for them, she asked for two." Shi Peiran said, taking out another white handkerchief embroidered with peach blossoms for Lu Congyue to see. "The embroidery is indeed beautiful, Yongxian likes it very much."

Lu Congyue recognized that the fabric of the two handkerchiefs was the one he had bought home to make clothes for his children, and it seemed that Zhuang Qingxiang had made them from leftover scraps of fabric.

If he wasn't mistaken, the white one originally belonged to her, and the dark blue one was his.

Unexpectedly, she gave it away as soon as Sun Yongxian asked...

He looked closely at the peach blossom; it was indeed very well embroidered, so well that it didn't seem like something a country person could embroider.

"Director Lu, is there something wrong with this handkerchief?" Shi Peiran asked, puzzled, when he saw Lu frowning.

Lu Congyue shook his head and put down the handkerchief.

Shi Peiran quickly invited Lu Congyue to sit down, poured him a glass of water, and then asked Lu Congyue if he had come for something, or if Sun Yongxian had caused trouble.

Lu Congyue waved his hand, pondered for a moment, and said, "It's not a big deal. I think your wife is a very enthusiastic comrade, but being too enthusiastic isn't a good thing either."

Shi Peiran was sweating profusely, wondering what stupid thing his wife had done this time.

"Director Lu, please speak frankly." Shi Peiran said with a wry smile.

"I don't think it's appropriate for your husband to introduce Zhuang Qingxiang to someone! First, her husband just passed away, and she's not in the mood for that right now. Second, she'll be going back to her village sooner or later, and she's not suitable for people from our factory," Lu Congyue said in a deep voice.

"Huh? That's all?" Shi Peiran suddenly recovered. "Director Lu, are you talking about Liang Xinzheng? Don't worry, Yongxian has already given up on this. She thinks Liang Xinzheng is too old and not good enough for Comrade Zhuang."

Shi Peiran smiled and said, "Yongxian said Comrade Zhuang deserves better, and she will introduce someone better to him in a year or two."

Then he spoke up for his wife, saying, "Well, this can't be blamed on Yongxian. Liang Xinzheng knew that Yongxian had taken care of Comrade Zhuang, so he took the initiative to let Yongxian know. Yongxian meant well."

Lu Congyue listened quietly; everything seemed normal, with nothing unusual about it.

He rubbed his forehead again: Could it really be like Niu Jianzhong said, that it was all a misunderstanding?

Lu Congyue didn't stay long. After asking his questions, he took his leave. Shi Peiran saw that his wife hadn't returned yet, so he went back with Lu Congyue, intending to pick up his wife along the way.

When they arrived, Zhuang Qingxiang was finishing up. Shi Peiran and Sun Yongxian waited for another ten minutes before Zhuang Qingxiang handed the finished clothes to Sun Yongxian.

Sun Yongxian kept praising, "Sister Zhuang, you're so skillful with your hands, and so clever with your mind! How did you come up with this way to mend clothes...?"

Zhuang Qingxiang was so embarrassed by her praise that she became shy.

Actually, she didn't have to do much. She had some embroidered fabric scraps on hand, with very simple plant and animal patterns. She just needed to sew them onto the worn areas. As for the torn areas, they were easy to sew up and wouldn't be noticeable unless you looked closely.

"Sister Zhuang, how much does this cost? Name your price," Sun Yongxian asked after packing the clothes.

In the outer room, Shi Peiran almost jumped up, and Lu Congyue also frowned.