The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 259: The Movements and Stillness of Yangcheng City

Chapter 259: The Movements and Stillness of Yangcheng City

"Jingqiu, I have to go on a business trip the day after tomorrow."

At night, Jiang Nanzhou held Lu Jingqiu in his arms, feeling somewhat reluctant.

"A business trip, not a mission?"

Jiang Nanzhou smiled and said, "Yes, to check out the advanced technology others have. Our country will definitely pay more attention to this field in the future. This time, the leaders have sent me and a comrade to go abroad and learn."

"Ah, that’s so sudden. Why didn’t I hear about it earlier?"

"It was mentioned before, but the selection wasn’t finalized. I was chosen at the end because of my good English. About a dozen people are going, talented individuals from across the nation, for a period of one month."

Lu Jingqiu touched his handsome chin and said, "Although we’ll be apart for a month, I see it as an opportunity for you. Make sure to learn a lot over there. Don’t worry about me."

"Hmm, if you don’t want to commute back and forth, just stay at the school. Hua Hua and the others will catch mice on their own; they won’t starve."

"I know."

Seeing her snuggled in his arms, Jiang Nanzhou’s heart skipped a beat, his eyes filled with sparks.

....

Before you knew it, it was May. Second cousin had made a trip to the prefecture-level city last time, selling out his goods. He didn’t accumulate many customers, but there were three or four.

They were all in the lower-level cities. Some merchants would take five or six units at a time, some one or two.

It wasn’t a lot, but these three or four customers had good sales in the prefecture, picking up supplies quite frequently.

The number of dealers was also steadily increasing.

Second cousin had made another trip to Yangcheng City and brought back a load of goods.

Today, Xue Jianian also told her some good news: the house they bought was going to be demolished.

"Jingqiu, I really followed the right person back then. Grandpa Xue said that the developers seem to have their eyes set on that pond area because there are fewer residents there. They’ve already approached Grandpa Xue once, offering to exchange one house for another. Hehe, Grandpa Xue sent a telegram, asking me to consult with you about what you think."

"Exchange one house for another? How big is the house they’re giving us? Is it one of the new buildings they’re constructing? Also, the pond belongs to us; are they planning to pay money for it, or give us another house?"

Xue Jianian was too excited to think it through: "I haven’t really asked what kind of house they’ll exchange. As for the pond, Jingqiu, do you think we should ask for money or a house?"

"I would like to have a house. How did you and Wei Jincheng discuss it?"

"Jincheng said you have great foresight and suggested I listen to you."

Lu Jingqiu was taken aback: "Is your man complimenting me?"

"Yes, he is. He said you and your man are pretty good. What, don’t you believe my Jincheng can give compliments?"

Lu Jingqiu laughed: "That’s not it." It was just unexpected to be praised by the CEO of her past life, who was no good. Oh, one can’t call him no good now; in this life, Wei Jincheng is the epitome of a good family man.

"I’m not short on money now, so I could opt for houses. What about you?"

Xue Jianian also said: "I’m not lacking money either, so we’ll go for the houses."

Lu Jingqiu said, "Okay, we will aim for the apartments. If there are extras we can’t live in, we could sell them once we get the houses. Now, we have to trouble Grandpa Xue to ask how big the houses will be and whether they are part of their new construction."

"Hmm, I’ll send a telegram to Grandpa tomorrow. Also, they are building quite large apartment complexes, even including the apartment I bought for Grandpa within the delineated area."

"Does this mean all the residential houses in that area will be demolished?"

"It seems like it."

This was within Lu Jingqiu’s expectations. However, being able to buy three houses and a pond with five thousand Yuan was beyond her expectations.

If it goes as they say, exchanging one old house for one new one, even without knowing the size of the three new houses, it’s not bad, plus there’s the sizable pond.

"Niannian, how should we negotiate with them for the pond?"

As soon as the pond was mentioned, Xue Jianian couldn’t help but laugh: "Jingqiu, our pond is not small. It should be worth five or six houses at least."

"Five or six houses? I just hope they agree to that."

"Ah, they won’t give five or six houses? They’re giving one for one for those houses by the pond. The pond is that big; how can they not give five or six houses?"

"The residents are guaranteed houses to live in; those should be distributed. For our pond, compensation is reasonable, but we can also negotiate for houses. You should first ask Grandpa Xue what they say. In a month, summer break will start, and I’ll go back with you."

"Sure, okay."

The house they had purchased last year was finally showing progress, and both were very happy about it.

However, Lu Jingqiu wasn’t overly excited because she was currently making revisions to the illustrations in her picture book. "The Coat that Defied Cold" was nearly completed.

She was quite satisfied with it, and after Editor Ban had reviewed the recent changes over the last couple of days, it would be ready for finalization and then printing.

The book by Luo Xinyue had already been printed and would hit the shelves in a few days.

She was quite excited about it these past few days at school.

Lu Jingqiu was also happy for her, and moreover, the young girl was about to get married, busily preparing her dowry.

He Yu even had a friend in Shanghai help find that red tulle skirt and had it mailed over to her.

Luo Xinyue had tried it on specifically for them in the dormitory, and truly, the skirt was very beautiful.

He Yu and Chen Qingru said they would be bridesmaids at Luo Xinyue’s wedding.

Luo Xinyue had completely lost contact with some friends from the big courtyard before.

And Luo Xinyue had become more and more outstanding.

Luo Xinyue’s mother said that changing circles had transformed Luo Xinyue’s mindset and personality. Who you surround yourself with decides who you will become.

Lu Jingqiu strongly agreed with this, but she had been feeling quite bored lately, lacking inspiration.

Jiang Nanzhou had been gone for a month and five days, and there had not been any news from him. Since her father arrived in Capital City, there had only been two phone calls.

When she returned home after school in the afternoon, Lu Jingqiu hugged Hua Hua and took Hua Guoguo out to tidy up the vegetable patch. She discovered that Hua Guoguo had caught a mouse in the corner, and she didn’t even dare to look.

She left the two to share their prize and suddenly felt inspired, so she went upstairs to paint.

She didn’t feel like eating dinner, so she just sat down for an hour.

Just as it was getting dark, Editor Liu from the newspaper suddenly came by.

"We have an urgent need, Comrade Lu, let me see your hidden paintings."

"Editor Liu, haven’t there been a lot of submissions recently?"

"There are many unsuitable submissions, we have a story section, and suitable illustrations are really hard to find. You are the only one I could think of."

Lu Jingqiu smiled, took her up to the third-floor study, and took out her latest illustrations.

Editor Liu searched for a long time and finally found a suitable one.

Just as she was feeling happy, she suddenly saw the series of four seasons-themed drawings Lu Jingqiu had underneath, and hastily said, "Comrade Lu, these drawings are quite good. Are you planning to publish them?"

Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "No, there are only four pictures. That’s too few for a picture book, it’s not suitable."

"Your composition is good. How about serializing it in the newspaper like the previous twenty-four solar terms? It could be done the same way."

"Editor Liu, that would be wonderful. You can see which section is suitable and arrange it for me. I have named these four pictures ’Meals Through the Seasons.’

"’Meals Through the Seasons’? That’s a good name. Is it really just these four Chapters? if you could expand it with a few more, and we serialized it in our paper, your art would become popular and you could even publish it. Wouldn’t that be even better?"

Lu Jingqiu had thought about it, but the four seasons were limited to four seasons, after all.

Editor Liu took another look and suggested, "You could draw some items or distinctive things from each season to make up another picture. That way, couldn’t you create eight pictures?"

Lu Jingqiu hadn’t thought of that. She looked at the green vegetables in the backyard and had a flash of realization, "Editor Liu is right, okay, I’ll give it some thought."

"What’s there to think about? I’ll go back and discuss with the office to see which section is suitable. You should start working on the remaining pictures at home."

"Alright."

Little did Editor Liu know, Lu Jingqiu had just been struck by inspiration, and after she left, Lu Jingqiu began another round of fervent sketching.

She planned to make these drawings size octavo, with rich images and bright colors that would instantly attract and comfort the viewer.

Lu Jingqiu continued to work until past ten o’clock, and when she looked up again, she didn’t realize it had started to lightly rain outside.

Only then did she feel a chill and hurriedly closed the window and went downstairs.