Chapter 141: Chapter 98: Brother-in-law, You Really Don’t Want to Be a High Official, You Really Don’t Want to Be a Prince Consort?

But then again, Song Meiqin’s personality wasn’t the type to just sit around and do nothing all day.

In Zhao Qiao’Er’s words, both she and Song Meiqin were born to work and couldn’t enjoy a life of leisure.

From the very beginning, Zhao Qiao’Er had raised this large family all on her own.

And as for Song Meiqin, it was her former mother-in-law.

Every day, she would be bossing Song Meiqin around, ordering her to do this or that.

Song Meiqin had been busy like that for over a decade. If you suddenly told her to relax, how could she possibly stay idle?

Seeing that Song Meiqin was willing to go, Lu Yuan grinned and said:

"Tomorrow, I’ll teach you. We’ll give it a try first.

If you feel tired later on and don’t want to do it anymore, we’ll just find someone else."

Such considerate words from Lu Yuan naturally filled Song Meiqin’s heart with immense happiness.

She looked at Lu Yuan, her voice sweet and cloying:

"Okay~~"

Watching this from the side, Song Chi blinked and couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Seeing his sister acting so feminine and in love, Song Chi was naturally overjoyed.

Although it made him a little queasy, he was still very happy.

His poor, long-suffering sister finally didn’t have to endure like before.

Especially the way she used to suffer, with no hope in sight.

...

After everyone returned to the Zhao Family residence, they had another dinner.

This time, with nothing else on his mind, Song Chi grabbed Lu Yuan and started a drinking bout.

In the end, it was Song Meiqin who felt bad for Lu Yuan and quickly shooed Song Chi away.

’After all, my little brother drinks every day in the military camp. How could my man possibly outdrink him! What if he drinks himself sick?’

That night, Song Chi took a carriage back to the Provincial City.

Before he left, he was so drunk he could barely stand, but he still hadn’t forgotten to come to Taiping City on the seventeenth to pick up the cannons.

...

「The next morning.」

Song Meiqin, smiling, linked her arm with Lu Yuan’s. The two of them boarded a carriage and headed straight for the factory outside the city.

You know, it was funny.

It felt just like a young couple on Earth commuting to work together in the morning.

After they arrived, Lu Yuan began showing Song Meiqin around, explaining everything to her.

After two or three consecutive days of this, Song Meiqin started going to the factory by herself every morning.

The old steward hadn’t left the factory yet.

During the day, if there was anything Song Meiqin didn’t understand, she would ask the old steward.

And if there was something even the old steward didn’t know, she would wait until she got home in the evening to ask Lu Yuan, as long as it wasn’t urgent.

Song Meiqin was exceptionally smart.

Plus, Lu Yuan had truly judged correctly—Song Meiqin had a natural talent for management.

By around the ninth day of the first lunar month, she didn’t even need the old steward anymore. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The old steward returned from the factory and no longer spent his days there.

It was about time for the old steward to come back anyway.

In another five or six days, it would be the fifteenth of the first lunar month.

After the fifteenth, the members of the Zhao Family who had returned to their hometowns for the new year would all be coming back.

Once they returned, it would be time to resume mining the Spirit Stone Mine.

As the steward of the Zhao Family, reopening the Spirit Stone Mine was naturally the top priority.

For the next four or five months, the old steward would basically be focused entirely on this matter.

Naturally, Aunt Zhao would also be busy for a while.

The only ones in the household who were still idle were Lu Yuan and the pregnant Su Liyan.

In truth, Lu Yuan wasn’t the type to stay idle either.

Mainly, the system had given him so many things that there was simply too much to go through.

With the factory settled, Lu Yuan had some free time recently and had started reading *Shennong* again.

He didn’t have any particular goal at first.

He just figured that everything the system gave him was valuable, and he shouldn’t let anything go to waste.

He decided to at least look through it all.

But as he read, he grew more and more interested and just kept on reading.

...

「On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.」

The moment Song Meiqin entered the room, she smiled at everyone and said:

"Oh my~~

Have you all been waiting long?

I’m so sorry. There was a lot to do at the factory, and I got carried away."

As Song Meiqin spoke, she quickly took off her black cloak.

But Zhao Qiao’Er, sitting at the dinner table, couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

"Don’t you know today’s the fifteenth?

You couldn’t come home earlier for dinner? We’ve been waiting for you for over an hour!"

At that moment, Su Liyan quickly handed a small hand warmer to Song Meiqin.

Cradling the hand warmer, Song Meiqin smiled at Su Liyan.

"Liyan~ Are you mad at your Aunt Song?~"

Su Liyan pulled Song Meiqin to the table to sit down, pursing her lips into a smile.

"I’m not mad~

Aunt Zhao isn’t mad either. We’re just worried about you, working so hard even on the fifteenth."

Looking at the sweet and well-behaved Su Liyan before her, Song Meiqin was utterly charmed. She couldn’t resist pulling her into a hug and laughing.

"Aww~

Our Liyan is just the best~

But don’t you go making excuses for your Aunt Zhao. She’s definitely mad at me~"

Zhao Qiao’Er looked at Song Meiqin and huffed.

"I am mad at you~

Forgetting to come home for dinner on the fifteenth. Have you worked yourself silly?"

But Song Meiqin just hummed lightly, her voice coy like a Little Fox.

"Anyone else in this room can blame me, but you certainly can’t~"

Hearing Song Meiqin’s words, Zhao Qiao’Er blinked her pretty eyes, a curious look on her face.

"And why is that?"

Song Meiqin pursed her lips in a smile.

"Isn’t it because I was busy working for you?

I’ve calculated all the factory’s production capacity and whatnot, and looked at the shops in the other county towns.

The products we were originally planning to sell on the fifteenth of the second month, I’ve moved the launch up to the second of the second month~

So tell me, are you still mad at me?

You should be thanking me~"

Hearing this, Zhao Qiao’Er looked puzzled.

’Heh.

What’s she on about?

Why?’

But just as Zhao Qiao’Er was about to speak, she saw the mischievous grin on Song Meiqin’s face.

In that instant, Zhao Qiao’Er understood.

’What other reason could there be...

Once those goodies are sold...

...my sweetheart’s factory will start making some serious money...

And when my sweetheart makes big money...’

A blush rising to her cheeks, Zhao Qiao’Er shot Song Meiqin a glare.

"Stop your nonsense. Hurry up and drink some soup to warm up."

Zhao Qiao’Er said this while ladling soup for Song Meiqin, her face still red.

Lu Yuan, who had been reading *Shennong* off to the side, hadn’t participated in their conversation.

He simply put down his copy of *Shennong* and smiled at Song Meiqin.

"How is it, Aunt Song? Are you tired?"

Song Meiqin looked at Lu Yuan, her voice sweet and coquettish.

"Not tired~ Not tired at all~

I love going to the factory~"

Lu Yuan found it rather amusing to see her looking so adorably naive, like a little girl.

"Oh? And why is that?"

Song Meiqin took the bowl of pork rib soup from Zhao Qiao’Er, warming her hands on it as she spoke in that same sweet voice:

"I don’t really know how to put it~

I just like going to the factory, that’s all~

Seeing the factory change day by day because of my decisions just makes me happy~

It’s like... hmm... it feels like I’m useful, you know?~"

Song Meiqin didn’t explain it very clearly.

But Lu Yuan understood.

In Earth terms, she had found her purpose in life.

That’s very important.

Then Song Meiqin smiled again.

"Especially...

A little while ago, I raised the standard for the lunch served at the factory, so everyone gets an extra piece of fatty meat.

Now, whenever people at the factory see me, they call me Director Song~

And it’s with genuine respect.

It’s not like before, when they’d call me ’madam’ to my face but who knows what they were saying behind my back."

Seeing Song Meiqin’s spirits improve more and more since she became the director, Lu Yuan felt relieved.

He had been worried that she wouldn’t be able to adapt.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, Song Meiqin had been a pampered lady of high society before.

But now?

She was getting up at four or five every morning, skipping breakfast, and heading straight to the factory outside the city.

It was a new factory, after all, and there was a lot to do.

But to his surprise, Song Meiqin was happy to go every day. She truly wanted to be there.

In response, Lu Yuan smiled and said:

"Good. As long as you’re happy, that’s what matters. But you don’t have to get up so early every day.

You’re the director, not a line worker. You don’t have to be there watching over everything every single day."

Song Meiqin nodded immediately. Then, her face filled with bliss, she looked at Lu Yuan very seriously and said sweetly:

"Thank you, Yuan’Er~"

...

「The seventeenth.」

In the faint light of early morning, a solemn army, so long that neither its head nor its tail could be seen, passed silently and in perfect order through Taiping City.

「Outside the North City Gate.」

The Zhao Family’s Travelers and the Lord Soldiers were hauling wooden crates onto carriages together.

Song Chi looked around. Today, only Lu Yuan and his sister had come; no one else was there.

Then, Song Chi sidled up to Lu Yuan and whispered secretively:

"Brother-in-law, are you sure you don’t want to be a high-ranking official? You really don’t want to be the Prince Consort?"