Jiang Yunling successfully got divorced, which resolved a major concern weighing on Lin Qiqi’s mind.
When she wrote the report letter, she was even humming a tune.
At dinner earlier, Aunt Zhang had vividly recounted the aftermath while soaking flatbread in fish soup.
“They say that old woman Yang Sufen was dragged straight to the police station!”
“She was detained for a few days. When she came out, she was muttering nonsense, shouting ‘Don’t execute me!’ over and over. Tsk, tsk, looks like she’ll behave now.”
“As for Lin Zhengxian and that woman, they went to the hospital. The child didn’t survive. After reviving her with some emergency pressure, she went back to the village.”
“Serves them right!”
Lin Qiqi didn’t feel the slightest bit of sympathy. One report letter was sent to the welding rod factory, and another to the neighborhood petition office.
Whether it worked or not, this matter was considered closed.
Jiang Yunling could now take care of herself in daily life without constant supervision, though she still needed support during certain situations.
She couldn’t handle heavy work, but she could pick vegetables, peel garlic, fold clothes, and mend socks.
All these small tasks together saved Lin Qiqi quite a bit of time.
After learning that Jiang Yunling’s medical funds had been taken, the factory—likely with Secretary Wang mediating—approved an advance payment of her next month’s salary and added a monthly disability subsidy of 2 yuan.
Two yuan might not sound like much, but it could buy ten jin of rice.
If used sparingly, it was enough for the mother and daughter to eat for half a month.
This money eased Lin Qiqi’s urgent financial pressure.
Aside from necessary living expenses and Jiang Yunling’s medicine, Lin Qiqi could now also afford textbooks and study materials.
The college entrance exam was held in July each year—there were just over four months left.
She planned to review on her own first, then return to school for intensive preparation in the last two months. If possible, she would take the exam this year.
When it came to going to university, Lin Qiqi actually felt quite excited.
She herself had never attended university before.
Back then, there were no adults at home. Her grandparents were old, and she didn’t have the heart to burden them further, so she entered society early.
Later, although she worked and studied at the same time and earned an adult education diploma, she had never experienced real campus life.
Now that she had another chance, she wanted to attend a good university.
She wanted to systematically study business knowledge and also experience campus life.
Currently, Lin Qiqi set aside mornings and evenings for studying.
In the afternoons, she visited construction sites and worked on her business plan.
She had already found a source for ingredients.
In Aunt Zhang’s hometown village, there were traders who specialized in bringing ingredients from the countryside into the city.
They could prioritize supplying Lin Qiqi, and she could purchase goods at ration prices using cash.
For her small stall, this was more than sufficient.
With no other backing, she had to rely on her business plan to convince the bank, so Lin Qiqi made it extremely detailed.
It included location selection, user profiling, competitive advantages, cost analysis, profit projections, and even a development roadmap.
Although it didn’t use many technical terms, its practicality was very strong.
At present, in special economic zones, some bold individuals had already begun leaving their jobs to start businesses.
But in Jiangcheng, most people still lacked this awareness, only engaging in small-scale trade to supplement household income.
Lin Qiqi’s business plan was absolutely ahead of its time. If executed according to its roadmap, there was a high probability of success.
Jiang Yunling found it all confusing and had no idea when her daughter had developed such abilities.
But Qiqi had always been a good student—it was possible she had taught herself, so Jiang Yunling didn’t suspect anything.
What she worried about was something else.
“Qiqi, borrowing money from a state bank… will that really work?”
“I heard there’s something called… interest.”
“If you can’t repay it, will they arrest you and execute you?”
In this era, most people were honest and cautious. Borrowing from relatives and friends was already the limit—who would dare borrow from the state?
“Whether I can borrow it is still uncertain,” Lin Qiqi reassured her. “Mom, don’t worry. If I can get the loan, I’ll definitely repay it quickly.”
“Even if the business fails, I can still take over your position at the factory.”
“Alright, then I’ll listen to you.” Jiang Yunling helped comb her hair.
If not for her daughter, she would have already died.
They had already endured the worst days—what was there left to fear?
No matter whether Lin Qiqi could repay the money, she would support her unconditionally.
If the worst happened and the state came to arrest Qiqi, she would take the punishment in her place.
Since she was going to negotiate with a state institution today, Lin Qiqi dressed up a little.
She still wore her hair in a princess style, but Jiang Yunling had decorated her plain hair clip with small three-dimensional fabric flowers and crocheted tassel buds—elegant and delicate.
Her outfit was still the light blue long-sleeved plaid dress.
But since the weather was cooler today, she added a white crocheted vest that Jiang Yunling had just finished making.
The pattern was also designed by Jiang Yunling herself.
With a handmade patchwork crossbody bag sewn by Jiang Yunling, Lin Qiqi looked at herself in the mirror.
The whole outfit gave off a perfect vintage pastoral style.
Even in her original era, it wouldn’t look outdated at all.
Jiang Yunling’s craftsmanship was truly worth developing further—only making clothes for the two of them was such a waste.
At present, there weren’t many banks in Jiangcheng. The first one Lin Qiqi planned to visit was in the city center.
Afraid she wouldn’t make it back in time, she had prepared two batches of pancakes early in the morning.
Now that they had ingredients at home, she didn’t just make sesame sugar ones this time, but also ones filled with preserved vegetables and diced pork.
The seasoning was balanced—neither bland when eaten alone nor overly salty when paired with other dishes.
She also packed a few for herself—she couldn’t bear to eat at restaurants.
If she got hungry while running errands, she would just eat a pancake by the roadside, avoiding another incident like last time when she fainted from hunger.
This reminded her of Jian Yushu.
She had already used more than half of the scar-removal medicine he gave her, and the effect was quite good.
Now, only a faint white mark remained on her calf.
Since her skin was naturally fair, it was barely noticeable unless examined closely.
But aside from his name, she knew nothing about Jian Yushu.
His age, workplace, identity—she knew none of it.
Even if she wanted to thank him, she had nowhere to go.
She wondered if he could eat properly now.
Had his stomach improved?
When would she finally be able to repay this debt of gratitude?