NOVPUB
Chapter 500: Chapter 500: Are You Pregnant?
Upon hearing Hu Haiyun’s words, Tong Yao’s eyes immediately lit up, "Sister Hu, I look forward to working with you."
Hu Haiyun didn’t take the business card when she got off the train, but now she is actively asking for it. This means that her impression of Tong Yao has changed; there might be opportunities in the future.
Li City is just a small town after all, it can’t compare with Kyoto. Hu Haiyun only brings clothes and other goods back because other items just don’t sell well in Li City.
Hu Haiyun is a Li City native. She doesn’t have connections in Kyoto so even good goods can only sit unsold, which is quite risky. Therefore, she can only work harder and transport clothes back to Li City to sell.
Hu Haiyun wanted to say a few words to Tong Yao, but before she had the chance, the owner who came to pick her up noticed her. The crowd immediately surrounded Hu Haiyun.
When Hu Haiyun finally assuaged the store owners, Tong Yao and Gu Hongwei were nowhere to be seen.
Gu Hongwei, worried about the crowd at the station, treated Tong Yao cautiously as if she were a baby panda. Tong Yao couldn’t help but laugh at him, "You don’t have to be so paranoid, this could just be a false alarm."
Upon hearing "false alarm" Gu Hongwei was stunned, curious, "Do you also play mahjong?"
Tong Yao shook her head, "No, I just borrowed the term."
As the two were waiting for their ride outside of the Railway Station, they saw Hu Haiyun leaving the station surrounded by a group of merchants. Those who could help carry goods did so and those who could help her with her bags did so as well. Their attitude towards Hu Haiyun was very good, indicating the popularity of the clothes she brought from abroad.
"I didn’t expect foreign clothes to be so popular." Gu Hongwei was a little surprised.
Tong Yao, however, thought it was quite normal. She had some understanding of this from her past life and explained, "These things brought back from abroad could be sold for ten times the price, it’s very profitable. Similarly, our domestic goods would be very profitable if brought abroad. This is why I wanted to do import business earlier. But it’s risky and the person involved suffers hardships. From Hu Haiyun’s condition, you can tell."
A cunning glint shone in her eyes, "Think about it. If we could collaborate with Hu Haiyun and form a business chain, what would that look like?"
Gu Hongwei got a little excited and thought for a while, "From what I see, she already has a stable customer base. She probably wouldn’t want to work with us. These people here already know each other and we are not familiar with her. She is that cautious that she most likely wouldn’t risk cooperating with unfamiliar people."
"Maybe. Maybe not." She cheekily smiled. "People are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of fattening. From her popularity, it’s not hard to determine that the merchants below her must be making a lot of money, which can only suggest how much she’s been making. Li City is only this big, and she’s probably quite famous now. Her line of work inherently comes with a lot of risks. If she’s caught the attention of the wrong people, it could be troublesome. I think Hu Haiyun is very cautious, and she should have thought of this as well. It may just be a matter of time before she contacts us."
Of course, these were just her speculations. If she overestimated Hu Haiyun’s intelligence and Hu Haiyun didn’t think that far, or if Hu Haiyun was unlucky enough to run into trouble before partnering with them, then there’s nothing they could do.
Gu Hongwei admired Tong Yao, "I think you were born for business. Honestly, your courage and theories put even me, a man, to shame."
Tong Yao laughed softly, "Alright, we’ve known each other for some time now, so don’t flatter me. It’s getting late today, so let’s not go to the hospital for the check-up. I’ll go take a look at the tea milk shop and spend the night with the staff there. Tonight, are you staying at the Guest House or going back home?"
Gu Hongwei said, "I’ll take you to the milk tea shop first. If I can catch a ride at the entrance of the city, I’ll go home for the night. I haven’t seen my Dad in half a year; I wonder how his health is. I’ll come back to the city to accompany you to the hospital tomorrow morning."
Tong Yao nodded, "Alright, call the milk tea shop if you need anything tomorrow."
"Okay."
The two took a taxi and Tong Yao got off at the milk tea shop. Gu Hongwei carried her bags and escorted Tong Yao to the entrance of the milk tea shop. She almost burst out laughing. These were just a few pieces of clothing but Gu Hongwei refused to let her carry them, as if he was worried about affecting the baby in her belly.
The key point was, it wasn’t even certain yet whether she was pregnant.
After Si Boyi and his wife stopped working at the milk tea shop, Xiaoshuang became the manager. She had always been serious about her work. She got married at the beginning of this year and Tong Yao gave her a big red envelope as gift.
Though Li City was a small city, the profits of the shop here were higher than those in Kyoto. This was also one of the reasons why Tong Yao was unwilling to give up this shop. She barely needed to worry about it, and she had a fixed monthly income of about fifteen hundred to two thousand yuan.
Xiaoshuang would also mail an account book to Kyoto at the end of each month. The accounts were clean and clear, which showed Xiaoshuang’s abilities in bookkeeping and management. As it was now after school time, the shop wasn’t that busy, the staff had finished their shifts, and only Xiaoshuang was at the counter, crunching numbers. When she saw someone enter, she asked without thinking, "Hello, what flavor milk... Boss?"
Xiaoshuang couldn’t believe her eyes as she looked at Tong Yao. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing wrong and immediately ran out from behind the counter with excitement when she got Tong Yao’s nod of confirmation. She excitedly grabbed Tong Yao’s hand.
She looked at Tong Yao with shining eyes, "Boss, I almost didn’t recognize you. You’re becoming more and more beautiful."
It was evident from Xiaoshuang’s eyes that she was genuinely glad to see Tong Yao. 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
Tong Yao smiled, about to say something, but her eyes fell on Xiaoshuang’s slightly bulging belly, surprised, "You’re pregnant?"
"Yes." Xiaoshuang nodded, then hurriedly explained, "Boss, don’t worry, it won’t affect my work. I can work up until I give birth. Then, I’ll take a break for about four or five days. After that, I can come back to work. I can leave my child with my mother. I really won’t delay my work."
Working at the milk tea shop wasn’t tiring and the salary was high. Because of her job, her relatives treated her particularly well. Xiaoshuang was genuinely scared of losing this job. She had been contemplating whether to tell Tong Yao straightforwardly that she was going to have a baby and ask for a few days leave, or just say she had some personal matters and need a few days off.
She wanted to tell the truth, but was worried that Tong Yao would fire her.
She really liked this job and the benefits were great. If she lost it, where else could she find a job like this?
Xiaoshuang regretted it a lot. She should have told Tong Yao earlier. Maybe Tong Yao would have accepted it better, instead of suddenly discovering it now with no preparation.
She didn’t plan to have a child so soon, and both her mother-in-law and husband had agreed. However, she unexpectedly got pregnant, and it was her first. Now that Tong Yao had discovered it, she could only accept the reality and hope that Tong Yao would allow her to keep working.
Seeing Xiaoshuang flushed with anxiety, Tong Yao quickly said, "You’re pregnant, so don’t be so agitated. Pregnancy is a good thing. I will not fire you just because you’re pregnant."
