Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 510 - 509: Big Sister’s Matchbox

Chapter 510: Chapter 509: Big Sister’s Matchbox

In the eyes of later generations, the agreement that Chang Jinzhong signed with Lin Nianhe was truly a foolish move.

But at that time, almost everyone thought Lin Nianhe had suffered a great loss.

Rong Zhiguo, frowning, finished a cigarette. He reached out, pressed Lin Nianhe’s head, and ruffled it: "It’s okay, your master will provide for you."

Lin Nianhe: "...?"

Rong Zhiguo, holding a matchbox, fell silent for a moment before speaking again: "Stop gluing the matchboxes, focus on your studies... Constantly touching glue will only ruin your hands, and you’re still young, it’s not yet time for you to worry about life."

Lin Nianhe: "...?"

It seemed her master had misunderstood something.

Indeed, Rong Zhiguo had misunderstood, and not just that, a series of unpleasant memories were eroding him.

It was when he was fourteen, his eldest sister had gone through numerous hardships to finally send him to an old fitter’s shop as an apprentice.

As an apprentice, there was no salary, and during holidays and festivals, he even had to give gifts to his master. He didn’t want to continue and thought about selling newspapers or even cigarettes, just anything that would make money.

After he discussed this with his sister, she broke off branches from the willow tree at their home and whipped him all afternoon, threatening to beat him to death if he dared not learn the craft.

He had been stubborn since he was young, and even after three branches were broken, he still refused to learn the craft.

Later, his sister cried, cried even worse than him who had been beaten.

His sister said, you can’t sell cigarettes all your life, right? Get through these two years, learn a craft, and you’ll never worry wherever you go.

His sister said, if the family had money, she could support you; you should study well, she was still counting on you to support her and give her a good life...

Later on, their home was always filled with the smell of glue and rough matchboxes.

The glue was made from water and flour, and long exposure softened the hands, making them white and wrinkly. Rough cardboards rubbing back and forth soon caused the fingertips to swell. Such skin was especially fragile; a little extra force, and the skin would scrape off.

The skin peeled during the day would grow back at night, only to be rubbed off again the next day.

In Rong Zhiguo’s memory, his sister’s hands were always red and swollen.

But she never felt that those matchboxes were the knives torturing her; she was always smiling, counting the matchboxes, calculating if they could afford to buy a couple of pounds of meat for dumplings that month.

Rong Zhiguo ultimately failed to provide his sister with a good life.

She died on the day he finished his apprenticeship.

He couldn’t even buy her a red headband with his salary.

...

Rong Zhiguo stood at the junction of the train carriages, his face chilled by the leaking wind.

He casually wiped, his face wet.

"Master."

Lin Nianhe handed him a handkerchief.

Caught in an embarrassing moment, Rong Zhiguo cleared his throat awkwardly and turned his head away, refusing the handkerchief.

While folding the handkerchief, Lin Nianhe said, "You’ve misunderstood, I wasn’t gluing matchboxes for money... The Hei Province Match Factory built a branch in our production team, and the team leader organized everyone to learn matchbox making, I just glued a few to tease you."

Rong Zhiguo took a deep breath.

He misunderstood?

Staring at Lin Nianhe, he felt no resentment at all.

Misunderstanding was good, good.

He breathed a sigh of relief, curved his fingers, and tapped Lin Nianhe’s forehead, murmuring, "Hmm, as long as you’re not short of money, it’s fine."

Lin Nianhe wasn’t scolded, and she felt a bit uncomfortable.

Especially seeing Rong Zhiguo’s complex expression, her heart was in turmoil.

"Master..."

"Shout shout shout, every day just opening your mouth to call ’Master’, if you have nothing to do just find a cool place to squat, don’t be an eyesore here!"

"Okay."

...

Days and nights alternated, and the weather began to warm.

In April in Sui City, the temperature had already exceeded 20 degrees.

Because of the Spring Trade Fair, all the supplies from the country were directed to Sui City, and the streets were several times busier with people and vehicles than usual.

"Child, how did you guys manage to get so much luggage on the train?!"

Minister Huang wiped his sweat, his eyes filled with admiration looking at Lin Nianhe and others.

Eighteen large suitcases, plus two smaller ones carried personally, how did they manage all that?

"Uncle Huang, thank you for making the trip personally." Lin Nianhe said with a smile, though her gaze unconsciously fell behind Minister Huang.

She didn’t see Ms. Zirui from her family.

"Don’t look around, your mom is very busy, she doesn’t have time to come here." Minister Huang said, "I’ll take you to the hotel to settle down, you still have classes to attend tonight."

Mentioning the hotel, Lin Nianhe perked up: "Uncle Huang, about the report I gave you earlier..."

"Don’t worry, everything is arranged."

Minister Huang came with three vehicles, two sedans and a van. Although having such an impressive arrangement didn’t attract much attention at this moment, many factories had sent staff in advance to handle the transportation arrangements, so there were always a lot of vehicles in front of the train station.

Lin Nianhe had emphasized two things during her phone call with Minister Huang:

First, they had a lot of luggage, unimaginably much;

Second, they needed to stay in an international hotel, which was related to the final sales volume of Head Flower.

The first matter had been properly arranged; the van could carry all the suitcases. As for the second...

"My dear mother, how is such a tall building constructed? Living up there, even ghosts wouldn’t drift in, right?"

Seeing the twenty-seven-story building in front of her, Sister Lan was so surprised that her hometown dialect slipped out.

Niuwa also looked stunned, staring up at the towering high-rise, his eyes somewhat bewildered.

So, the outside world had buildings dozens of floors high, so many cars, so many things he had never seen before.

Wong Xiao and Wang Shumei were also extremely shocked; they spotted the high-rise from afar, but never guessed they could actually stay there.

"Alright, keep the astonishment for inside the room, hold it together for now."

Lin Nianhe reminded them in a low voice.

Everyone swallowed nervously, their steps unusually stiff.

With Minister Huang making thorough arrangements, the check-in was quickly handled, and he handed them the room keys, adding a reminder, "Most people staying here are foreigners, don’t go to other floors except the dining area, call for assistance if you need anything."

"Okay."

Their rooms were on the twentieth floor. While riding the elevator, all four instinctively clung to the elevator walls, blinking nervously.

Minister Huang chuckled, "Ride it a few more times and you’ll be fine, don’t worry, this elevator is very safe."

Wong Xiao, somewhat reassured by Minister Huang’s approachability, pinched his own palm, asking Lin Nianhe, "Xiao Lin, are we really okay to stay here? This... isn’t it inappropriate?"

Minister Huang first assured Wong Xiao with a "don’t worry," then turned to look at Lin Nianhe, "Child, why did you want to stay here?"

Before on the phone, Lin Nianhe mentioned it was about the sales of Head Flower, Minister Huang, busy with numerous responsibilities, didn’t inquire further, thinking since the staff from the Foreign Trade Department also stayed here, letting Lin Nianhe and others stay wasn’t against the rules, so he directly arranged it.

Now that they’ve met, he naturally wanted to clarify.