Seventies Sweetheart: From Breakup to Billionaire-Chapter 312: Farewell, Stepmother

"Brother Qi, how about this, you go home, find a way to recruit that young man you mentioned to work for me. How about I pay him? I’ll reimburse your round-trip train ticket, you won’t lose out."

"Alright, I’ll ask him when I get back today. If he’s willing to come, that would be great."

The chicken farming matter was temporarily settled, and the important task now is to first build the dormitory. Once the dormitory is completed and Zhang Jianjun and others move in, they can work with the construction team on the pigsty and such.

Additionally, the matter of buying piglets and rabbits also needs attention. We can’t have the pigsty built but no piglets, which would leave old Zhang and the others only frustrated.

After everything was discussed, Lin Xiang and Cheng Jinyun left.

Zhang Jianjun and others didn’t leave immediately; they needed to familiarize themselves with the surrounding environment.

Before leaving, Lin Xiang left Zhang Jianjun a phone number.

"This is the landline phone at the entrance of my alley. If you need anything, call me. If I’m in class and don’t answer immediately, I’ll return your call first chance at noon."

Leaving the Qi State area, returning to Beijing, as they passed the department store, Lin Xiang asked Cheng Jinyun to stop the bicycle.

"I’m going to buy something, so you head home first."

After speaking, Lin Xiang turned and left.

Cheng Jinyun watched Lin Xiang’s clean and decisive back, his brows furrowing.

He could feel Lin Xiang was excluding him, but why?

Clearly, they had said goodnight to each other last night, so why did things feel off after just one sleep?

Cheng Jinyun found a bike shed to park his bike, and then chased Lin Xiang inside the department store.

In the clothing section on the second floor, Lin Xiang circled twice but couldn’t find a coat that was both high-quality and nice-looking.

Today, Lin Xiang was wearing clothes given by her aunt, which were likely of high quality and appeared expensive, so while checking out clothes, she wasn’t treated with contempt by the sales clerk; instead, she was warmly welcomed throughout.

"Comrade, your skin is fair; pink and yellow look best on you. I see the coat you’re wearing is pink; why not look at this yellow one?"

The clerk didn’t even wait for Lin Xiang to respond and pulled down the goose-yellow coat from the model, even attempting to swap Lin Xiang’s own coat with it, which Lin Xiang refused.

"I’ll just take a look."

"This coat is cashmere, don’t let its thinness fool you. It’s made of excellent material and offers great warmth," the clerk enthusiastically promoted, "Hold it in your hand, you can’t quite see its value. Do you want to try it on?"

Lin Xiang politely declined.

The style of this coat had a distinctly 70s-80s feel, with decorations beloved by people of this era—not the simple style Lin Xiang preferred.

"I want to buy clothes for my mom, can you recommend coats for middle-aged women? Something of good quality."

"Of course, let’s go over here."

Once they reached the middle-aged women’s clothing section, the clerk pointed directly at a coat on a model, "This is our department store’s most expensive woman’s clothing; just this coat alone costs 168 yuan."

At 186 yuan, in an era with average salaries around 70-80 yuan, few could afford to spend two months’ pay on an item of clothing.

But Lin Xiang instantly took a liking to this coat.

The style wasn’t much different from the one her aunt gave yesterday, but this one came in a prestigious yet subtle dark purple. There was a carved flower at the chest, and each button was set with a large-looking crystal, refracting several beams of light under the department store’s illumination.

"This one, I’ll..."

"Wrap up this coat for me!"

Before Lin Xiang could finish speaking, a lofty voice came from behind her.

The speaker was a woman in her forties, dressed to flaunt wealth, not even blinking as she bought a nearly 200-yuan coat.

"Sorry, comrade, I saw this coat first," Lin Xiang said calmly, unapologetic yet firm.

The woman glared at her, "I don’t care if you saw it, as long as I want it, it’s mine."

The clerk was thrilled, "Ladies, no need to argue, we happen to have two of these coats in our department store. You can each have one, I’ll go wrap them up now."

Selling two of the most expensive coats at once, the clerk’s commission today would exceed her monthly salary!

Lin Xiang had no objection; she was here to buy clothes, not to quarrel. As long as her mother’s gift wasn’t snatched away, it was fine.

But evidently, the other woman had different ideas.

"When do I ever wear the same clothes as someone else? I don’t want this coat anymore, you can buy it yourself!"

She turned and left, snorting coldly as she passed Lin Xiang, "Wearing an expensive coat doesn’t make you wealthy, young lady. You still have much to learn!"

"Learn from you, no princess destiny but full of princess disease?" Lin Xiang retorted mercilessly, "The organization has strictly forbidden capitalist practices, your antics, tisk..."

"Back in the days, you’d surely face a parade of shame; you might even end up in the cattle shed!"

With national policies relaxing, some people who’d been suppressed for years fully revealed their true nature.

The woman didn’t expect Lin Xiang to respond like this, her face turning extremely unpleasant, "Young girl, you have quite a mouth despite your age. Aren’t you afraid of offending someone?"

"If you’re bold enough not to fear offending people, why should I?"

"Just you wait!"

The woman left in an angry huff, muttering powerless words.

Lin Xiang pursed her lips at her back, "Show me what you can do if you’ve got the guts!"

"Don’t mess around, girl."

Cheng Jinyun, out of nowhere, stood right in front of Lin Xiang, "That person got tricks up her sleeve. If she really does something to you, you won’t be able to defend."

"You know her?"

Cheng Jinyun nodded slightly and mouthed two silent words.

Stepmother.

Lin Xiang realized, "So she’s the woman your blind dad married after?"

No, Quanfu Building had been taken back by Cheng Jinyun, Cheng Jianfeng was out of business, the family was living off their past savings, so why could Chen Miaoying afford to be so arrogant?

She could spend over a hundred yuan on a coat, Lin Xiang wouldn’t fault her, but she didn’t like being threatened.

"I thought your stepmother was some formidable character, but this is it?"

Too weak in fighting skills, huh?

Cheng Jinyun: ...

Blame his lack of eloquence!

"Anyway, she’s got shady intentions and is somewhat petty. You should try to keep your distance and avoid conflict with her."

Cheng Jinyun had the ability to protect Lin Xiang, but feared that if he went back to the army or on a mission, unable to return for extended periods, what if Chen Miaoying did something to harm Lin Xiang?