Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 29

Previously, Liu Chengxu had mentioned buying a house to Su Zhiluo many times, but Su Zhiluo mostly remained silent, feeling they were living polar opposite lives and shouldn’t live together.

Su Zhiluo believed her life was primarily composed of factories, rental houses, mud, cloudy days, and rain. Many people in the world could find happiness, but she seemed unable to. Su Zhiluo didn’t want to interfere with Liu Chengxu’s future life; she wanted Liu Chengxu to be bright and radiant. She didn’t want their paths to intertwine. Whether it was before or after Liu Chengxu fell for her, she had never entertained a shared plan or fantasy about “home.”

Liu Chengxu took the hiking backpack and carefully examined the stitching. Su Zhiluo had sewn it well; the stitches were barely visible.

Seeing her happy smile, Su Zhiluo felt a pang of bitterness and guilt.

She used to be insecure and clumsy. The most effective way she had to handle Liu Chengxu was to be cold to her and ignore all her expectations.

Liu Chengxu asked, “Where shall we go out then?”

“We’ll walk around the food street and then buy you a pair of shoes.”

“I have shoes,” Liu Chengxu said. All her clothing was bought by Su Zhiluo, who never scrimped on her in that regard.

Su Zhiluo replied, “I’ll buy you trainers, running shoes. Don’t you love running? They’ll be more comfortable.”

Only then did Liu Chengxu nod, carefully saying, “You buy a pair too. You’re always walking back and forth.”

“…Look who wears trainers here. Everyone wears slippers.”

Liu Chengxu still pressed, “Wear them in winter.”

Su Zhiluo packed away her needle and thread box and took her notebook to find Chang Ru-yin. Although they were good friends, when it came to money, they needed to keep things clear to avoid potential disputes and damage their partnership later.

Chang Ru-yin was on a video call. Seeing Su Zhiluo approach with the ledger, she sat up, and the two started reconciling the accounts. Both of them had a flaw: they were good at saving money and being frugal but not very good at bookkeeping. In the past, Su Zhiluo usually handed it over to Liu Chengxu.

Chang Ru-yin said, “I’m going to take a class to learn how to use a computer, and another one on accounting. If we study the details, we can earn more.”

“Sounds good.”

The division of labor between the two was quite clear.

Chang Ru-yin still had savings and wasn’t in a hurry to settle the money. Su Zhiluo told her about the plan to open a factory.

They currently had several online stores, handling tens of thousands of orders during holidays, earning over a hundred thousand yuan this month alone. The volume of goods they were sourcing was huge. Opening a factory would not only supply their own needs but also allow them to partner with physical stores later, earning them a large sum.

An experienced sister from their warehouse had mentioned that her previous factory needed 300,000 to 500,000 in working capital monthly.

Roughly calculated, if they capitalize on the high-consumption months this year, they should be able to take a leap next year. Ideally, they could see returns in a year and a half to two years.

If they could find good channels later and create their own brand, they would make a fortune.

While they were chatting, Su Zhiluo hadn’t returned to her room, and Liu Chengxu came over.

Yang Jie also offered on the phone to help if they needed money later.

Chang Ruyin pointed out that online traffic was crucial; some clothes of lesser quality than theirs sold more.

They should seize the high-traffic opportunity and open an account.

Su Zhiluo had considered this initially, thinking of letting Liu Chengxu and the others handle it, but then thought they were students and worried it might negatively affect them.

Liu Chengxu said, “What’s bad about it? We’re eager to earn money. This is called entrepreneurial self-starter. We’ll research it; everyone is short on cash anyway. I’ll go call and ask around.”

Saying this, she took her phone and went out to make a call.

Chang Ruyin asked, “She’s quite motivated, isn’t she? Did you two plan this?”

Su Zhiluo shook her head. “I just suddenly had this idea this afternoon.”

Chang Ruyin said, “Oh, why so sudden?”

Su Zhiluo replied, “To earn more money so we can buy a house later. It’s not good to still be drifting around when we’re a few years older.”

Chang Ruyin thought she made a good point. A house used to be a distant, unthinkable dream for them, but now that Su Zhiluo mentioned it, she started considering it too.

The two elaborated on the plan again. Chang Ruyin lowered her voice and asked, “Is it because of Liu Chengxu?”

Su Zhiluo slowly nodded. “She’ll graduate in her senior year. I’ll be renting outside, and she’ll be renting outside. We might as well save up to buy a smaller one. Even if we don’t live in it, we can rent it out.”

“I knew it. Your kindness towards her is… unusual.”

Su Zhiluo didn’t answer, just remained silent, then glanced at Liu Chengxu, who was on the phone.

Before Liu Chengxu went back, the two went to the local theme park together. They had both been taken there by the same person before.

The two thought they were experienced, played two simple rides at the entrance, and then went straight to the roller coaster. As they were going up, they were still admiring the view. The next moment, both their hearts almost leaped out. A few minutes later, standing on the ground, they felt dizzy.

Su Zhiluo wasn’t as steady as her and threw up.

Su Zhiluo felt embarrassed and couldn’t look at her. Liu Chengxu pursed her lips and handed her ‘sister-in-law’ some water.

After resting for a while, they went on a few easier rides before trying another extreme one.

It was quite fun.

When the park closed in the evening, they went to buy shoes. Liu Chengxu deliberately bought a pair in two colors, hoping to wear them as couple shoes with her.

Su Zhiluo didn’t refuse and paid for them.

At the end of August, Liu Chengxu went back, and Su Zhiluo still bought her a plane ticket.

Su Zhiluo took a day off to see her off.

With this ‘pass,’ Liu Chengxu’s courage grew a bit bolder. She asked directly, “Should I come here for the winter break, or wait for you at home?”

Su Zhiluo thought about it. “I haven’t considered that yet.”

After a few minutes, she gave a slightly more specific answer: “If there’s nothing pressing, we’ll see where the cost of living is lower. If something comes up, I’ll likely be inspecting sites here.”

“Okay,” Liu Chengxu nodded. “I’ll listen to you.”

The announcement on the loudspeaker urged people to speed up the security check.

Su Zhiluo got up and walked with her to the line, wanting to say something.

Just as it was almost Liu Chengxu’s turn, she turned and hugged Su Zhiluo. Su Zhiluo was startled, then reached out and patted her on the shoulder, saying, “We’ll definitely spend New Year’s together. Study hard, and tell me if you need money.”

Liu Chengxu replied with an ‘okay.’

Su Zhiluo released her hand and watched her pass-through security.

They seemed to always be in a state of reunion and separation. Her eyes felt sore. Liu Chengxu looked back at her; her eyes full of reluctance. Su Zhiluo wanted to wave at Liu Chengxu as if nothing was wrong, but as she raised her hand, her eyes turned red.

Sometimes she suddenly doubted herself—was coming to Guangzhou the right choice?

From another perspective, it was the right choice. Otherwise, they would still be crammed into a rented room, struggling to make ends meet, with no future.

She thought, in the future, they should try not to be separated again.

After landing, Liu Chengxu thoroughly cleaned the house and took photos for Su Zhiluo, specially showing her the dehumidifying bags, proving that the house wouldn’t get moldy with her there.

Afterward, back at school, various exams for the start of the third year of university arrived: the teacher qualification certificate, English proficiency tests, and professional exams.

Liu Chengxu always shared her daily life with Su Zhiluo: what she ate, what she did. She also participated in a debate competition.

Su Zhiluo would take her tablet to the library to study after work.

Thus, two weeks later, at the school debate competition, Liu Chengxu wore a sharply tailored black waistcoat suit, a crisp white shirt underneath, and straight-hanging dress pants. She stood before the crowd, distinguished and tall, like a favored child of heaven.

The first suit in her life was sewn by Su Zhiluo herself.

When Liu Chengxu buttoned it up, her fingertips trembled unconsciously, as if she wasn’t just wearing a suit but a wedding dress.

Cha Baomei and Meng Zhengyue looked at her attire, their eyes filled with undisguised envy.

After the competition, she specifically borrowed an iron from the dorm manager and carefully ironed out every wrinkle in the suit.

Then, she sent the photos Cha Baomei had helped her take to Su Zhiluo. She had intended to ask, “Will this garment be for sale?” but decided against it.

This outfit had already made it onto the trending search list. Su Zhiluo could make money by capitalizing on the popularity and selling it.

Su Zhiluo posted the photo of her wearing the suit with a simple caption: Very excellent.

Liu Chengxu repeatedly asked herself in her heart:

What difference is there between this and being in a relationship????

Could Su Zhiluo honestly say she hadn’t fallen in love with her?

Liu Chengxu’s third year of university was fulfilling and sweet. She always believed she was dating, just that her ‘sister-in-law’ was more reserved. That didn’t matter; there was no rush. The road ahead for her and her ‘sister-in-law’ was long.

Something happened this semester: Cha Baomei and her sister had a strained relationship. Every time they met; they looked like enemies. Liu Chengxu, having some experience, specifically went to comfort Cha Baomei. She advised her that if her sister was leaving, she should say a proper goodbye, or the memories would be full of regret later.

Cha Baomei said with red eyes, “Do you think I don’t want to? Every time I try to talk to her, she looks at me like that. I can’t figure out what she’s thinking.”

The next day, Cha Baomei went to see her sister again and came back even angrier. Her sister refused to let her see her off at the airport, asking her not to show up.

Those words certainly sounded hurtful. Liu Chengxu had observed Cha Baomei’s sister a few times and always felt her eyes were strange. Whenever Cha Baomei offered her congratulations, her sister looked as if she was about to break down.

Liu Chengxu almost couldn’t hold back from telling her, “Your sister is probably beyond a certain boundary.”

Liu Chengxu couldn’t keep it to herself and told Meng Zhengyue, “If you had a good friend who liked their own relative, what would you say?”

Meng Zhengyue looked horrified and asked with a complicated expression, “Is it you who likes your sister-in-law, or Cha Baomei who likes her sister?”

“You, you just imagine it’s you,” Liu Chengxu quickly said, feeling a little flustered at being singled out.

Meng Zhengyue really couldn’t imagine it and said, “If it were my friend, liking this kind of twisted love, then I… I’d wish her happiness.”

What else could she do?

Liu Chengxu heavily patted her on the shoulder. “We really are good friends.” She had thought someone with Meng Zhengyue’s personality would be unable to cope and would say it was unacceptable.

Meng Zhengyue thought seriously.

If those friends were truly the two of them—one liking her sister-in-law and the other liking her sister—then the only normal person would be herself.

That was also quite scary.

Meng Zhengyue hesitated to speak, yet couldn’t stop herself.

This semester, Liu Chengxu obtained all the required phase certificates. Before the break even started, Su Zhiluo said she had snagged a discount coupon and bought her a plane ticket.

Things were better than expected. Su Zhiluo and Chang Ruyin had earned quite a bit more. Mainly because their videos had gone viral, causing frequent bursts of orders. The two planned to use the Spring Festival period to scout locations and rent a place to set up a factory.

To learn about management, Chang Ruyin specifically worked in a garment factory for a month.

The initial stages weren’t smooth. Labor, machinery, and rent expenses were too high, draining all their savings.

Formal operations began during the summer break.

Their profits surged, and they earned a significant amount.

By this time, Liu Chengxu was in her senior year, busy with her thesis topic, and also facing a new turning point.