MGASC -Chapter 98 Too Cute—Makes You Want to Hug, Kiss, and Lift Her High

“Li Dong, what you said isn’t without reason. But before the police investigation results come out, we can’t talk nonsense.”

Lin Tianyue still eyed him coldly. Li Dong usually ran with Wang Zhi—birds of a feather. What kind of person he was, Lin Tianyue knew perfectly well.

Li Dong hurriedly replied, “Y-yes, yes…”

“You just said Auntie Wang went over there. I remember you and Wang Zhi are pretty close. So why didn’t you go help out? Such a huge thing happened to the Wang family—two lives lost in one go. Compared to them, they’ve got it worse than me.”

“I…” Cold sweat poured down Li Dong’s back. “I—I was just passing by, came with everyone to check on you, Brother Yue.”

“You should go check on the Wang family. They need you more.”

“Yes, yes.”

Li Dong left trembling, desperate to slip away, afraid that if he stayed any longer, Lin Tianyue would see through him. He shot Li Dazhuang a look, then hurried off.

No one liked rubbing salt into an open wound. With the condolences properly paid, everyone prepared to leave.

The vendors had come mainly to sound things out—to see if the Lin family was truly finished. Seeing how open-minded Lin Tianyue was, and how Zhang Qiao still had the mood to dress herself up nicely, everyone felt reassured.

Even if the Lin family’s house had burned down, they wouldn’t collapse that easily.

Whether they worked at Lin Tianyue’s factory or were planning to cooperate with Zhang Qiao, they all decided to wait and see a bit longer.

The only ones who truly felt uneasy were the few who had already paid franchise fees.

Seeing the crowd about to disperse, Li Dazhuang and Qian Gui nudged each other for a long while. In the end, Qian Gui pushed Li Dazhuang forward.

Li Dazhuang stood in front of Zhang Qiao. Before he could even speak, his face turned red.

“Brother Li, do you still need something?” Seeing how awkward he looked, Zhang Qiao asked with a gentle smile.

“Well… um…”

“You’re worried about the franchise, right?” Zhang Qiao said calmly. “Brother Li, Brother Qian, Sister Feng, Brother Cheng—you’ve all paid deposits and signed agreements. Those agreements protect not just my interests, but everyone’s. You can rest assured. As long as I’m still here, your businesses won’t fail. Once I get through these next couple of days, Yingzi and I will start working on your new shops right away.”

Qian Gui said hesitantly, “Zhang Qiao, that’s true, and we do trust you. It’s really not that we’re kicking you when you’re down, it’s just… just that my kid got sick, and we need money urgently. So… could you return my money first? Once I get past this rough patch, I’ll come back and work with you again.”

Lin Tianyue’s hands, hanging at his sides, clenched suddenly.

He didn’t even know how much Zhang Qiao had taken from them, but at the slightest trouble, they wanted their money back. That was clearly looking down on him—and on his wife.

Just as he was about to speak, he felt a soft, boneless little hand gently squeeze his wrist.

Zhang Qiao smiled serenely. “So what Brother Li means is to put the franchise on hold. That’s understandable—treating a child comes first. How about this: we’ll tear up the agreement. Tomorrow you can go to Yingzi to get your money back. Even if business doesn’t work out, goodwill still matters.”

Li Dazhuang froze. She was really just returning the money like that?

Didn’t that mean her cash flow wasn’t a problem at all?

After all, besides Zhang Qiao, there was also Lin Tianyue backing her up.

Lin Tianyue also looked at Zhang Qiao in surprise. Franchise or not, he’d just gotten back and didn’t fully understand the situation yet. But from what he could tell, someone was trying to make Zhang Qiao spit out money she’d already earned.

Doing business was about trust—especially at a time like this.

To refund money so readily—how little faith did they have in his wife? How certain were they that she’d fail?

Zhang Qiao remained calm, smiling as she turned to the others. “Anyone else want their money back? If so, I won’t make things hard for you. But franchise spots are limited. Within three months, I’m only opening ten slots. Miss it, and you’ll have to wait until next quarter. I suggest everyone think it through carefully.”

Chen Gang chimed in, “That’s right. Think it over. Opportunities don’t come twice.”

Qian Gui had been about to follow suit and ask for his money back too, but when he heard there were only ten spots, he swallowed his words.

Zhang Qiao was so straightforward about refunds—that meant she had real confidence. If that was the case, maybe it was worth taking a gamble…

“What refund?” Qian Gui laughed. “Zhang Qiao, how could we do something like kicking you when you’re down? Don’t worry, everyone trusts you!”

“Exactly! Sis believes in you. I’m sticking with you from now on!”

“All right then, you and Director Lin hurry up and tidy the place. We won’t disturb you any longer.”

The franchisees left in a rush, making Li Dazhuang look like a fool standing there alone.

But words once spoken were water once spilled—there was no taking them back now. He couldn’t exactly say he’d lied about having a sick family member, could he?

After seeing off the last guest, Zhang Qiao pushed the door open and went into the courtyard.

Chen Gang was inspecting the large vats that had once been used to pickle cabbage. The results were awful. He looked at Zhang Qiao dejectedly. “Sister-in-law, all the vats cracked from the fire. The vegetables are basically ruined…”

Zhang Qiao went over to take a look. Just two days ago, she’d had Sister Li pickle over two hundred jin of mustard greens—none left over at all.

“It’s fine. We’ll buy new vats and make them again.”

Chen Gang glanced at Lin Tianyue, but Lin Tianyue shot him a glare. “What are you looking at? Listen to your sister-in-law!”

What he’d been most worried about was Zhang Qiao losing heart. She was pregnant—what if she couldn’t handle the blow and fell ill?

At first, Lin Tianyue hadn’t supported her doing business. But now, as long as she didn’t lose her spirit, he’d stand by her unconditionally.

Even if they lost everything, so what? He wouldn’t let others laugh at her.

To Chen Gang, though, the two of them really did seem unbelievably big-hearted.

Zhang Qiao didn’t bother with the pickles anymore. She cleared aside some rubble and went to check the room she shared with Lin Tianyue.

Not bad—the clothes in the trunk hadn’t burned.

She picked out whatever was still useful and started carrying things out.

Lin Tianyue pulled her back. “It’s dirty here. Don’t do this. Chen Gang and I will clean up. You go stay at Aunt Liu’s for a while. I’ll come get you when we’re done.”

But Zhang Qiao was thinking about something else. “Lin Tianyue, where are we going to live next?”

They couldn’t stay at a guesthouse every day—ten yuan a night was too expensive.

Lin Tianyue said, “We’ll have to stay at my old house for a while.”

“You still have an old house?”

Zhang Qiao suddenly remembered—his “old house” must be where he used to live.

After his father passed away, he lived there with his mother. Later, his mother remarried. After Lin Tianyue dropped out of school, he never went back.

The house that burned was one he bought himself and later renovated into what it had been.

“Yes! It’s actually not far from my factory. I just haven’t been back in a long time—I don’t know what it’s like now. I’ll take you over this afternoon. If you like it, we’ll stay there for now. Once we get through this rough patch, we’ll build a big new house right here!”

It sounded like a promise painted in the air—but because it was Lin Tianyue saying it, Zhang Qiao believed him completely.

She didn’t really care whether the house was broken or nice. Either way, things would get better.

Then Lin Tianyue added, “You don’t need to worry about money either. In a few days, the factory can free up some funds. You can use that first.”

“I wasn’t worried to begin with,” Zhang Qiao said lightly. “Aside from this broken house burning down, our biggest loss was those vats of pickles. Don’t worry—I already took the money out.”

“What?”

Zhang Qiao looked around, then happily leaned closer and showed him the small cloth bag slung across her body.

She opened it. Inside were stacks of big-denomination bills.

Her translation fees, Zhou Xiaoxiao’s tuition, the money earned from selling pickled fish these days, the franchise fees, plus the pocket money Lin Tianyue gave her—all together, three to four thousand yuan. Every bit of it was in there.

Lin Tianyue stared at the bag of money, eyes wide like copper bells. Every time he went out or came back, he left her money. Almost all the household income was with her.

But he’d never known where she kept it.

The last time she’d hidden it in a little handkerchief under the pillow, he’d discovered it. After that, she stopped putting it there.

He suspected she had multiple hiding places—like a cunning rabbit with many burrows.

But the fire had been that fierce yesterday, and she’d still thought to grab the money.

He’d assumed it was all burned to ashes.

Lowering her voice, Zhang Qiao whispered into his ear, “As soon as the fire started yesterday, I packed the money. This is all our savings. Whether we can turn things around in the future depends on it!”

Her sweet voice teased the nerves behind his ear. Her breath was warm, fragrant, her expression playful and adorable.

If his hands weren’t so dirty, and if there weren’t other people around, Lin Tianyue really would’ve pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight, kissed her properly.

How could she be this cute?

“Zhang Qiao, you really risk your life but not your money. How can you be such a little money-grubber?” He laughed, half helpless, half amused.

Zhang Qiao quickly hugged the money bag tighter. “I earned all of this myself. Of course I can’t lose it. Otherwise, where would I get the confidence to refund people?”

“All right, all right—you’re amazing!”

Lin Tianyue was completely convinced. With such a money-loving wife, it’d be hard not to get rich.

At this point, he really had nothing left to worry about.

So what if the house burned down? Perfect excuse—he’d tear it down and build a three-story Western-style house, nice and grand.

And Zhang Qiao thought the same way: everything that couldn’t kill her would only make her stronger.