Chapter 493

Sophia Sullivan stayed in the lab for two full weeks.

The intensive project could have ended two days earlier.

But Hannah Morse seemed to have been struck by some sudden motivation.

She abruptly started grinding nonstop.

She strongly insisted on completing the Phase Two experimental plan as well.

Caleb Watson had no objections.

Being locked in or out made no difference to him anyway.

Marcus Lawrence, of course, listened to Hannah.

Sophia had no issues with it either.

So the group spent two extra days in the lab.

They finally finalized the initial experimental plan.

Hannah was brimming with fighting spirit.

She was terrifyingly strong right now.

However, on the day they wrapped up—

"Sophia, hehe~ I'm applying for my annual leave!"

So all that previous hard work was just preparation for the upcoming relaxation.

Sophia approved it directly. "Granted."

In the afternoon, Marcus Lawrence found her—

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "You want annual leave too?"

Marcus nodded. "Yes."

"??"

What was going on with them?

Considering everyone had worked hard these past two weeks.

Sophia decided to give everyone two days off.

A balance of work and rest is necessary for sustainable development—

"Especially you, Caleb. No overtime. I'll fine you if I catch you!"

Caleb: "?"

A boss who forces people to take time off?

He scratched his head. "Then... I'll go back home. It's about time to help harvest the corn, hehe..."

With the Xu father and son behind bars.

The local criminal elements in Lower Dam Village and the town were rounded up by the police.

All threats to the Watson family were eliminated.

Mr. Watson took Mrs. Watson back to the village.

The cherry orchard had already been leased to a contracting company.

The contract was signed, the money received. It couldn't be taken back.

But the Watsons still owned several plots of land in the village.

They had crops planted when they were forced to move.

Mr. Watson had to abandon them, which pained him deeply.

Fortunately, the Xu family was gone.

After village-wide crackdowns and ideological reforms, the atmosphere improved greatly.

Mr. Watson wanted to go back and manage those plots again.

The couple didn't move back permanently.

They just spent a few days each month returning from the city to work the land.

As Mr. Watson said: Might as well do something. Grow some food, self-sufficiency is enough.

He wouldn't actually want to move back for good.

His wife was going to a major hospital.

Famous doctors introduced by Alexander Laurent treated her.

Her health was visibly improving.

Their daughter had also adapted to her new school.

She excelled academically and was recently recommended for a math competition.

She achieved a very high ranking.

She's reportedly going to Beijing for a winter camp training session.

A gold medal could mean admission to MIT or Caltech.

As for himself.

His fresh soybean pudding was delicious and fairly priced.

It gradually gained a reputation in several nearby neighborhoods.

He later added savory tofu pudding.

Seeing more and more regular customers.

Chloe Sullivan Watson helped set up a WeChat group.

People could pre-order soybean pudding and tofu pudding.

Large orders qualified for home delivery.

It might seem like a small business, but the costs were low.

The soybeans were grown themselves.

He made several thousand dollars profit each month.

Such income was unimaginable to Mr. Watson before.

Mrs. Watson's health still didn't permit her to work outside.

But she wasn't idle.

She did housework and cleaning daily.

She also prepared three meals for her husband.

And helped make tofu.

Before Caleb returned to school, he bought her a smartphone.

It was Mrs. Watson's first time using such an advanced phone.

She went from being clumsy to gradually proficient.

She learned very diligently.

When Chloe Sullivan saw her mother had learned.

She handed over management of the "Watson Tofu" WeChat group to her.

At first, Mrs. Watson struggled due to slow typing and many typos.

But she gradually discovered she could use voice-to-text.

Later, a neighbor who ran a courier station told her about being a community group buying leader.

She could earn commission if people used her link to order.

With a try-it-out attitude.

Mrs. Watson periodically posted good group buy deals in the tofu group.

She didn't just throw an order link into the group for people to buy.

She would buy the items herself first to test and try them.

Only things with good quality and reasonable prices were shared.

She also included her own user experience.

And advised everyone to buy rationally.

And you know what! Believe it or not!

Those regular customers in the group actually listened to her!

From a few scattered orders to dozens, then hundreds.

Now her daily income was actually several hundred dollars.

This utterly shocked Mr. Watson.

He got up early every day to grind soy milk and prepare soybean pudding.

Then he had to carry it around to several neighborhoods hawking it.

The weather was getting warmer, hotter every day.

He came back drenched in sweat after each trip.

In the afternoon, he set up a stall selling tofu pudding at the square downstairs.

He only packed up and went home in the evening.

After all that, he didn't earn much more than his wife.

Mrs. Watson couldn't help but laugh.

"See! You sell muscle, I sell brains. I earn money easily."

"Wow, who taught you that? And that group buying and... what was it? Private domain traffic? Where did you learn these things?"

"Those two girls who came to our house last time, Caleb's classmates, remember?"

"Of course, I remember."

"The chubby one named Hannah, she added me on WeChat. I heard these things from her. She also recommended several books to me, said reading and learning more would definitely be rewarding."

"Since we moved to the city and don't do farm work anymore, I had nothing to do at home all day, so I bought those books to read. They're really useful, honestly..."

Mr. Watson sighed. "Our family owes them a lot, otherwise..."

"So I told our son to work hard and steadily."

"We should also invite that Hannah girl to dinner to thank her."

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Watson nodded quickly. "I told him the same thing."

So Caleb, before returning to his hometown.

Specifically invited Hannah—

"...My mom said it's all thanks to you. She insisted I treat you to dinner, said it's from her, representing her feelings."

"But..."

"You choose what to eat! Anything is fine!"

After spending this time together.

He knew Hannah was very particular about food.

Her palate was sharp; she could tell what was delicious and what wasn't.

"Alright." Hannah couldn't refuse and finally agreed.

She then rescheduled her morning plans with Marcus to noon.

Compressed her noon and afternoon plans together.

Freed up half a day.

Marcus thought she just wanted to sleep in and didn't ask further.

But then...

The next morning, when he saw the two of them sitting across from each other in the restaurant through the glass window.

Eating happily.

His face instantly darkened.

As black as a pot.

"Your braised chicken to go is ready—" The server cheerfully handed it over.

Marcus snorted: She's already eating! What's the point of takeout!

When Hannah arrived at their meeting place at noon.

She called Marcus—

"Where are you? I don't see you."

"...At home."

"What?! Say that again?!"

Marcus on the other end involuntarily shrank his neck. "...On my way."