The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Li Zhi’s impression of the woman made everyone laugh. It was surprisingly funny.

"It’s not that bad, though. Based on what you said, the girl just likes to act cute. Good-looking people get away with more. She’s pretty, so what’s the big deal if she acts a little spoiled?"

Gu’er didn’t really see a problem with it. She wasn’t the type to act cute herself, but she didn’t have anything against women who were. Women who knew how to act coy often had better luck, and men tended to fall for it. A little sweet-talking and pouting could easily soothe a man’s anger.

’A woman like the one Li Zhi described—very beautiful, with big, captivating eyes and a saccharine voice—was probably born to act cute, born to be doted on.’

"You call that nothing? Then what would you call something? Anyway, I can’t stand her type. A girl like that isn’t for me. I just want to find someone to live a simple, down-to-earth life with. Someone I can talk to, someone I can do things with. I definitely don’t want someone like her, who I’d have to pamper and coddle every single day. Life’s tiring enough already."

Li Zhi shook his head. She wasn’t his type.

"Just pretend you’re coddling your own daughter," Liu Yuan chimed in.

"Hell no! She’s not my daughter, so why should I have to coddle her? If you want to do the coddling, you go find someone."

Li Zhi glared at Liu Yuan.

"You have to dote on your wife, too. Why else would a woman marry you? It’s so you’ll treat her well."

Sun Jiaming added, glancing at Gu’er as he finished. She gave him a sweet smile in return.

’Gu’er actually understood where Li Zhi was coming from. The men around here were all a bit chauvinistic. They often referred to local women as "tough old broads," which said a lot about how they saw them. The women here were generally fiery and straightforward. When it came to talking business, getting things done, or even holding their liquor, they could go toe-to-toe with any man. They didn’t do that whole delicate, "damsel in distress" act, so they probably weren’t used to someone who acted so coquettish.’

"Suck-up," Li Zhi muttered, then added, "Anyway, I can’t stand that attitude of hers. A girl like that belongs in a wealthy family, where she can be pampered, provided for, and doted on all day. Dealing with her would be fine for a couple of days, but you can’t build a life with someone like that. I need someone who can live a stable, down-to-earth life with me."

"Down-to-earth, you say? The textile mill here has plenty of female workers, and so do the other factories. The women there are all the down-to-earth type. How about I introduce you to a few?" Liu Yuan asked Li Zhi.

"Get outta here. If there were any good ones, you’d keep them for yourself. You think you’d actually introduce them to me? Look, buddy, I want someone down-to-earth, but we also have to click. I’m not just gonna grab the first woman I see and make her my wife."

Li Zhi shot Liu Yuan a look, and Liu Yuan snickered.

"Alright, alright. We were supposed to be discussing how to handle the employee situation. Where did you all get sidetracked to?"

Gu’er smiled, steering the conversation back on track.

"Exactly! We were talking about the employees, how did this turn into finding me a wife? You guys are being so unprofessional. Get serious, or the boss’s wife will fire you all," Li Zhi added loudly.

"Weren’t you the one who started it? If anyone’s getting fired, I’d say you’d be the first to go."

Gu’er shot him a look.

"Is that so? I don’t remember that. Fine, let’s say it was me. We can drop it. Back to the employees. I think your plan is good. We’ll have three people in charge of evaluating the ’Employee of the Month’ awards, and they’ll have to supervise each other. I refuse to believe they’ll still dare to falsify the results then. As for anyone who *does* try to fake it, the first time they’re caught, they lose three months’ worth of bonuses. If they’re caught a second time, they’re fired. That should stop anyone from trying. What do you all think?"

Li Zhi agreed that this had to be handled. Otherwise, it would foster a toxic work culture. Why were they putting up so much bonus money every month? It wasn’t because they had money to burn. It was to motivate the employees to work hard. But those few employees had the nerve to team up and cheat the system. This could not be tolerated.

"This is my fault. I’m here all day, every day, and I didn’t even notice. If Gu’er hadn’t mentioned it, I’d still be in the dark. I was derelict in my duty," Liu Yuan admitted his fault.

"Don’t say that, Brother Liu Yuan. We put you in charge here, and you’ve worked hard enough. Don’t just take all the blame on yourself whenever something goes wrong. By that logic, we’re all responsible. Let’s not worry about assigning blame right now. Instead, let’s focus on how to make an example of the culprits and prevent this from happening ever again."

Gu’er had no intention of holding anyone accountable; besides, this wasn’t Liu Yuan’s fault.

"Leave it to me. I know exactly who’s involved. I’ll make sure to catch one of them red-handed. Then, Manager Qu Feng and I will call a meeting with all the employees to make a public announcement. Only a few people are cheating, and they’ve already caused a lot of resentment among the others. Everyone will be happy to see them dealt with. This will be a warning. If it happens again, they’re fired."

Liu Yuan’s voice was firm, the look of inexperience gone from his face.

’He’s matured a lot since I first met him,’ Gu’er thought, nodding to herself.

"Alright then. Now that the meeting’s over and we’ve reached an agreement, I want to ask: when are we going to G City to handle my aunt’s divorce?" Li Zhi asked, looking at the others. He was getting a little stir-crazy at home lately.

"We’ll go after we’ve dealt with this situation here. Why are you in such a hurry when the rest of us aren’t? By the way, how are things going with contacting that person in Harbin?"

’They should at least wait until after her first month of marriage with Sun Jiaming is over,’ Gu’er thought. ’Going off to handle a divorce right after getting married would be terribly unlucky.’

"I’m still working on it. This isn’t easy; I have to find someone really well-connected. But I’ve got a solid lead now. Don’t worry, this will definitely happen. You should focus on figuring out what we’re going to transport over there once it’s arranged."

Li Zhi was a reliable guy when it came to getting things done, but this task was proving to be a real challenge. He had approached several people with no success. His latest connection came through Dingzi. Just because Dingzi was quiet and didn’t usually ask people for favors didn’t mean he didn’t have connections; he just preferred not to use them.

"I’ve already figured out what we’ll transport. It would be best if we could make this happen before the end of the year." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Gu’er really had given a lot of thought to what they could take there to sell.

"So tell us. We want to hear, too."

Li Zhi’s interest was piqued. Dingzi glanced at Gu’er, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. Liu Yuan also turned to her, waiting for her to speak.

"I’m not telling you yet. We’ll talk about it once you’ve settled your end of things."

Gu’er smiled, deciding to keep them in suspense.

"Hmph. Fine, don’t tell us. I’ll find out eventually anyway."

Li Zhi huffed, but his eyes darted toward Sun Jiaming. Sun Jiaming just shook his head; Gu’er hadn’t told him anything about it, so he genuinely had no idea.

"Come on, just tell us," Li Zhi couldn’t help but ask again.

"It’s..."

Gu’er paused for a moment. Seeing that all eyes were on her, she broke into a playful grin and said, "A secret."

"What the hell! You can’t just mess with us like that."

Li Zhi had been all ears, so when Gu’er just said it was a secret, he couldn’t stop himself from blurting out a complaint.

Everyone burst out laughing, and the atmosphere was light and cheerful.

——————

Getting my kid to do their homework is like fighting a war. I’m off to continue the battle. Who knows when I’ll be able to finish writing today.