Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 234 - 230: The End of the Year Approaches

Chapter 234: Chapter 230: The End of the Year Approaches

On the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month.

The weather was gloomily overcast, the biting cold wind whistling like knives as it burrowed into people’s collars.

Qin Guanglin had taken a half-day off to drive He Fang to the high-speed train station. He reluctantly gave her a long list of warnings not to wander around at night, and only after watching her board the train did he make his way back to the company.

This farewell would last at least ten days.

It was the longest they had been apart since they had been together.

He was still not quite used to it... Qin Guanglin listened to the soothing music on his drive back to the company. No sooner had he taken off his scarf and hat than he was dragged into the office by Chen Rui.

"What’s up?"

"Of course, it’s good news."

Chen Rui chuckled, sorting through several documents on his desk, "Although we’ve only been working together for half a year, we’ve shared both the sweet and the bitter, having faced adversity together..."

"Cut the sentimentality," Qin Guanglin interrupted promptly, "I just did what I was supposed to."

"Ha... Honestly, if you hadn’t stayed with me, working overtime till midnight these past few months, the company would have had a hard time making it through. That’s the truth."

"Hiring more people, outsourcing, it wouldn’t have come to the brink of collapse, right?" Qin Guanglin felt that at most the company would be severely weakened, unable to recover for a long time, but far from collapse.

"Outsourcing is easy, retrieving the work is hard. Getting several different people to draw a comic, and that too our flagship product; besides..." Chen Rui smiled, shook his head, and said, "Let’s not talk about that. Anyway, these months, it’s been the two of us periodically staying up until dawn that has kept us going... um... I want to make you a supervisor..."

Seeing Qin Guanglin pause as if to speak, Chen Rui gestured with his hand to continue, "Of course, with our tiny crew right now, being a supervisor or not doesn’t make much difference—so let’s hold off on that. Once we have more people, dozens of them, we’ll elevate you to the position."

"So the good news is this postponed supervisor position? There’s more, right—" Qin Guanglin guessed that with Chen Rui’s way of doing things, it couldn’t be that simple; there might be more surprises to come.

"Of course, there’s more."

Chen Rui’s words excited him, and he rubbed his hands together, leaning in, "What else?"

"You’ll find out later." Chen Rui didn’t plan to reveal it now but mentioned the supervisor position and pushed the documents in hand toward Qin Guanglin.

"This is the plan for next spring. Help me look it over... you can take it home and look over during the holiday. Once you finish up the remaining work, we’ll start our holiday. No need to stick to the 28th or 29th, consider it an early holiday, especially since these past few months have been extraordinarily tough."

"Alright, then I’ll get back to work."

Qin Guanglin collected the documents and left the room to continue drawing his own comic.

At this small company, the second-in-command position... should be secure.

As the end of the workday approached, Chen Rui glanced over the work progress, clapped his hands to gather everyone around a side table in a circle, and conducted a simple year-end summary, touching on some matters.

After concluding the summary, he brought out a travel bag, just like at the end of October, and began pulling out wads of cash.

"These past few months, everyone has worked hard."

Chen Rui scanned the room, clearly seeing the delight on everyone’s faces.

Everyone likes a year-end bonus, especially one given so generously by the boss.

"In October, half the company left. I don’t want to talk about them anymore."

"Thanks to the remaining staff working overtime, we still completed all of our tasks, and we did them quite well."

Chen Rui looked at everyone seriously, speaking deliberately before bowing slightly in a gesture of thanks.

"I want to thank you."

"..."

Everyone stayed silent, eagerly awaiting Chen Rui’s next words.

"For those who left, they left. We, the ones who stayed, completed the work. So the portion of the salaries and bonuses that would have belonged to them..." Chen Rui patted the money on the table, smiling, "The company can’t stand on my shoulders alone, nor would it be great to save such a large expense. Since we, the ones who stayed, completed the tasks working overtime, naturally, the saved salaries and bonuses ought to be shared amongst us all."

"In a way, we should actually thank them for leaving."

...

Qin Guanglin had no idea who gave Chen Rui the idea, but the year-end bonus was issued in a wad of cash, a bulging bag of bills which he carried speechlessly after work, first to the bank to deposit the eighty thousand he had, before driving toward home.

The eighty thousand was a combination of salary, commission, and the year-end bonus. He hadn’t really looked into the exact breakdown, just glanced at the pay slip before tearing it up and throwing it away.

No matter how he calculated, it never added up to that much. All he could say was that Chen Rui was generous — according to Chen Rui, he got the same amount as Qin Guanglin, equal salary and strictly calculated commissions.

Humming a tune all the way, he reached home and opened the door, to find Qin’s Mom happily slurping down cola chicken wings, thoroughly enjoying herself. When she saw Qin Guanglin enter, her movements paused, her lips still gleaming with grease.

"Why have you come back?"

"... I guess you didn’t make my dinner?" Qin Guanglin’s great mood instantly froze.

It smelled so good, but there was none for him.

"You didn’t say you were coming back for dinner... What about He Fang? Did she go home for the New Year?"

"Yeah, she went back. I’ll head to He City after the New Year to pick her up and while I’m there, I might as well drop by my future father-in-law’s place... Hey, why is the fridge empty too?"

Qin Guanglin said, opening the fridge to find it barren, save for some little pickles and such, the kind He Fang had taught Qin’s Mom to make a long time ago.

Qin’s Mom continued to gnaw on the chicken bones with gusto, saying, "What do I need so much food for, just by myself? I eat fresh every day... You order takeout."

"Ordering takeout during the New Year’s..." Qin Guanglin’s plan to cook for himself was forcibly aborted. Muttering under his breath, he went out again, "I’ll go see if Sha County is open."

Having just earned eighty thousand, yet still having to go out for Sha County’s steamed dumplings... Luckily, Sha County hadn’t gone home for the New Year. Qin Guanglin, still indignant, ate an extra large bowl of noodles, eventually feeling begrudgingly satisfied with a full burp.

"I just made eighty thousand," he bragged to He Fang via his cell phone.

"Wow, that’s awesome."

He Fang’s reply seemed rather perfunctory.

Qin Guanglin snapped a photo of the empty steamer and bowl on the table and sent it, "Then I had steamed dumplings from Sha County Hotel."

"Wow, you ate so much. I want some too!"

"..." Qin Guanglin realized she had missed the main point and felt compelled to remind her, "Ever since you left, I’ve had to suffer like this."

"When I get back, I’ll make a big feast to make it up to you."

This time, Qin Guanglin was satisfied. After telling her he’d start a video chat later that night, he put away his phone and finished paying. Humming a tune, he headed back home.

"Did you get enough to eat?"

Qin’s Mom had cleaned up the table and sat nursing a cup of prunella tea, slowly sipping. Seeing him return, she asked.

"I did."

"Come sit down, I have something to talk to you about."

Qin Guanglin was just about to go back to his room for the video chat when he heard her and stopped, "What’s up?"

Every time Qin’s Mom said ’come sit down, I have something to say,’ his skin tightened up.

This seriousness meant it wasn’t anything trivial.

Qin’s Mom didn’t respond immediately, taking a sip of her prunella tea first, then looking up at him. Only after he came over and sat down did she muse for a moment and finally asked, "Are you planning to get married first or buy a house first?"

"Buy a house... but I have to be able to afford it," Qin Guanglin let out a sigh of relief, "Are you contributing? If I earn more next year, I can put down a deposit on a place, and then I’ll propose..."

"Hold on, wait a minute," Qin’s Mom interrupted, raising her hand, "Do you plan to buy a house first then get married, or get married first then buy a house?"

"If I can buy first, of course I’d buy." Qin Guanglin didn’t hesitate, then paused as he realized there was a hint in Qin’s Mom’s words and pursed his lips, "That can be discussed later, she and I don’t need to worry so much about that— it’s all for both of us, why make such clear distinctions?"