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Chapter 273: Chapter 273: Stabbed in the Back by Brothers
Su Wensong instructed Hou Xiaobao to keep an eye on Jia Liang’s situation.
Selling a house is no small affair. Upon learning of it, the next day Hou Xiaobao informed Su Wensong, who in turn told Lin Chuxia.
"Do you know how much he owes?"
Su Wensong shook his head, "He didn’t say, but Hou Xiaobao gave all his savings to Jia Liang, so it must be quite a sum."
Seeing Lin Chuxia remain silent, Su Wensong ventured to ask, "Does Mr. Lin intend to cover Jia Liang’s debt? Or to give him an advance on his salary?"
Jia Liang had performed well during his year working with them, and it was clear Lin Chuxia intended to make good use of him.
Though salary advances come with risks, Jia Liang is sentimental and loyal; his character is trustworthy.
Lin Chuxia shook her head, "Since he hasn’t approached the company about it, let’s pretend we’re unaware. Later, you arrange for someone to wait until there’s news of Jia Liang’s house being on the market, then send someone to buy it."
"Mr. Lin wants his house? What if Jia Liang finds out one day..."
Su Wensong knew Lin Chuxia was recently considering buying a house, and though transactions are a mutual willingness between buyer and seller, purchasing Jia Liang’s house would be very different from buying any other property.
If Jia Liang ever found out, it was inevitable he would overthink things. Lin Chuxia was known to dislike complications.
Yet Lin Chuxia did not elaborate further, "Just do as I said. When it comes to the price, try to meet his needs. Tell me the amount later on. Although Jia Liang is a victim in this situation, he is not entirely innocent. He should have known what kind of person Tian Jinzhu is. Since he chose to trust Tian, leading to these consequences, he should be prepared mentally—every person must pay for their mistakes."
Regarding his decision to sell the house and accept the responsibility on his own, it impressed Lin Chuxia all the more.
Su Wensong nodded, "Alright, I understand, Mr. Lin."
...
The matter was resolved quickly. The next day when Su Wensong met Lin Chuxia, he informed her that the house was bought for a total of 5,000 yuan.
Lin Chuxia pondered for a moment. Considering the rent and decoration costs of a house in the city, she had given Jia Liang a total of 10,000 yuan.
He really had spent most of his money on his brother, indeed a moment of folly.
She had always known that Jia Liang and Hou Xiaobao held highly to the codes of brotherhood, always ready to assist each other, even to the point of taking a blade for one another.
Now, after lending a helping hand, his brothers had turned their backs, stabbing him instead. Let’s see if he would learn from this experience.
Lin Chuxia handed the money to Su Wensong and received the deed—the house was now hers.
...
Jia’s small courtyard
Today was the day Jia Liang and his family were moving out. Hou Xiaobao had taken the day off to help.
From the announcement of the sale of the house to the day of the move, it was just a three-day span, and Old Mrs. Jia still struggled to accept this reality. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
But no matter the difficulty in acceptance, the house had been sold, the money received, and they had to move out.
There’s a saying, "A broken family still holds wealth." Their family had lived here for generations, and although they had never been wealthy, they did have many belongings when gathered together.
Especially some antique items and belongings left by Jia Liang’s father.
Old Mrs. Jia packed, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
"Mom, let’s not take these things with us, they’re not worth much. I’ll buy you new ones later," Jia Liang said as more and more stuff piled up. He had only rented a small place on the other side and couldn’t fit all these things, so he had to remind her.
Old Mrs. Jia ignored him, turning her back to him and continued packing.
Hou Xiaobao nudged Jia Liang, urging him to move things onto the 121.
Jia Liang had borrowed the 121 from the factory, using it to transfer the goods and people in one go.
Once Jia Liang was gone, Hou Xiaobao moved closer to console, "Granny, don’t be sad. In the future, if there’s a chance and Brother Liang has money, maybe he can buy this courtyard back."
With tears in her eyes, Old Mrs. Jia looked around and nodded, though she knew well that once a house was sold, it would not be easy to buy it back.
Even if they could afford another house in the future, it wouldn’t be the same courtyard.
But she felt powerless.
How could she blame her son, who valued loyalty and was naively deceived, and she couldn’t allow Boss Lin, her son’s benefactor, to lose money because of her son’s mistake.
Boss Lin was her son’s benefactor. Without Boss Lin, she would probably still be worrying about her son getting involved in shady dealings.
Now all she could do was pray to live a few more years, wait for her husband’s reincarnation, and only then to report to the King of Hell to avoid grievances in the underworld.
...
As the decoration of the Bun Shop in the city was completed, Lin Chuxia started visiting the city more frequently.
This time it was about employee recruitment. Jia Liang truly had high emotional intelligence; she never mentioned her preference for looks in recruitment.
Their An City Bun Shop, including Granny Sun, Jia Liang, Hou Xiaobao, and not to mention the majority of the employees who were acquainted, no one could tell that Lin Chuxia cared a lot about appearance.
Yet, the newly hired employees in the city, regardless of age, had proper facial features and friendly eyes, clearly handpicked carefully.
"These are the new hires I’ve recruited. All of them literate—some finished middle school, one is a high school student. They have clean backgrounds and are locals of the city."
They had already recruited several people to make buns and sent them to Ancheng County for training—these were to be shop attendants.
Lin Chuxia nodded, acknowledging their suitability.
In any service industry, looks represent the face of the business, and for catering, the appearance and demeanor of the service staff can certainly uplift the grade of the establishment.
"Is there any other issue here? I looked at the calendar, and I preliminarily set the opening for the sixth day of the lunar month, which is next Tuesday. If you think that’s too soon, I can reevaluate when I get back."
At the mention of a set date, Jia Liang became somewhat excited.
"No problem, I’m all prepared here, just waiting for Mr. Lin’s word."
"Okay, then it’s settled. You arrange the opening ceremony, make sure it’s grand enough."
Once everything was settled, Lin Chuxia asked casually, "I heard you brought your mom to the city?"
"I’m the only son my mother has. Since I’m working here, I wasn’t comfortable leaving her at home alone."
Lin Chuxia nodded, "That’s good. I’ve decided to leave the city shop in your charge, appointing you as the manager. I was concerned that you might be preoccupied with family matters, but now it seems you’ve addressed your concerns. However, if you encounter any difficulties in daily life, you should tell me. The company takes good care of its talents."
Jia Liang smiled along, although bringing his mother here was out of necessity, earning Mr. Lin’s trust brought genuine joy.
He couldn’t help but think of Tian Jinzhu. Though the matter was resolved and Mr. Lin did not place much blame, Jia Liang couldn’t help feeling remorseful.
He felt he had let down Lin Chuxia’s trust.
