Dazzling

During those two weeks, Qing Ye could hardly imagine how she had managed to get through it all. To be precise, this was the busiest period she had ever experienced in her life.

Running a factory—from production to packaging, promotion, and sales—everything was a first-time attempt for her. Like everyone else, she often had to feel her way forward step by step, learning from failures along the way. Fortunately, she wasn't fighting alone. Although everyone was somewhat inexperienced, as the saying goes, "Three cobblers with their wits combined surpass Zhuge Liang, the mastermind."

Perhaps it was because they were a group of fearless young people, brimming with endless dreams for the future, daring to take risks and fight without worrying about the consequences, that they poured all their passion into this endeavor.

However, Qing Ye still racked her brains over the brand name. The factory was originally called "Xie Lao San Food Factory," and the thought of printing "Xie Lao San" on the food packaging made her cringe—it sounded as if Grandpa Xie were her father, which was utterly eye-watering.

After all, they were selling rural snacks; the name couldn't be too fancy, nor could it sound like some kid or village. She pondered over and over but couldn't come up with a brand name that accurately captured the essence.

Then one day, while helping her wash clothes, Xing Wu casually remarked, "Why not call it 'Sunny Valley'? It's simple and easy to remember. The character '谷' (valley) has a rural connection, and as for '晴' (sunny)..."

Qing Ye immediately jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom, her eyes sparkling. "Because my surname is Qing?"

Xing Wu glanced at her and said with a smile, "The main product is sun-dried fruit, handmade. Doesn't the character '晴' (sunny) fit perfectly?"

And so, with that casual suggestion from Xing Wu, Qing Ye found it brilliant. That very night, she hired someone to design the logo. Later, she even went as far as changing the factory's name entirely. "Xie Lao San" was officially renamed "Sunny Valley Food Factory."

When their first batch of new packaging was ready, after Qing Ye finalized the design, all the tedious tasks like negotiating prices with printing factories and obtaining samples were handled by Quan Ya.

Several times during the process, Qing Ye mentioned giving him an advance payment or whether he needed a deposit. Quan Ya always said there was no rush. It wasn't until the first batch of packaging arrived that Qing Ye saw the finished product's quality exceeded her expectations—especially the three-dimensional "Sunny Valley" logo. The more she looked at it, the more she felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

But Quan Ya never asked her for the money, merely brushing it off by saying they could settle the payment later once the factory started making profits.

Qing Ye couldn't shake off her guilt about this. She had classes during the day and sometimes couldn't even answer phone calls conveniently. Quan Ya had to deal with all the contacts and run errands—how could she let him cover the expenses?

She discussed the matter with Xing Wu, but he simply replied, "Don't overthink it. He doesn't see you as an outsider."

Although Quan Ya never brought up the relationship between Xing Wu and Qing Ye afterward, given their years of brotherhood, some things didn't need to be said for him to understand. Perhaps he had initially held some reservations about Qing Ye—whether because of Shu Han or his belief that a girl from a big city like her couldn't genuinely commit to Xing Wu.

Both he and Da Hei, Hua Bi, and the others knew how deeply emotional Xing Wu was. It wasn't that they thought Qing Ye was a bad person; they just worried that Xing Wu might invest too much, hope for too much in this relationship, only to end up with nothing in the end, which wouldn't be worth it.But after the incident at Xing Wu's home, Qing Ye's attitude gradually won the genuine acceptance of Xing Wu's friends, and their previous concerns faded over time.

Xing Wu had become even busier lately. He had informed Lao Yang that he sometimes needed to take leave to visit building material markets and the hospital. Lao Yang was well aware of Xing Wu's family situation and asked if they should organize a school donation drive.

Xing Wu replied with amusement, "You should discuss that with Qing Ye."

His tone sounded as if he were saying "domestic matters should be discussed with my wife," though Lao Yang naturally didn't interpret it that way and actually went to consult Qing Ye about it.

Qing Ye felt that publicly showcasing their misery would be like begging. Did they really expect her and Xing Wu to stand hand in hand on the podium one Monday morning, dramatically weeping to gain sympathy?

She was absolutely certain they'd collapse laughing before even steadying themselves. If she agreed to this, either Xing Wu would strangle her or she'd strangle him - after all, they were penniless but proud. Thus, Qing Ye decisively declined Lao Yang's offer.

Qing Ye was returning to the inn later each evening. Recently, rushing production deadlines and preparing for the tasting event promotion kept her working overtime daily with various troublesome matters.

Xing Wu would wait for her at the factory after finishing his own work, then take her home together. The night study students had grown accustomed to regularly seeing Xing Wu there. Qing Ye had expected Feng Bao to ask her something after that day, but he never questioned why she and Xing Wu had... kissed.

However, since that day, he had consciously maintained some distance from Qing Ye, especially when Xing Wu was around. Feng Bao would minimize his presence, and whenever he accidentally made eye contact with Xing Wu, he would nervously avert his gaze, as if fearing Xing Wu might cause trouble for him.

Sometimes when Qing Ye was explaining problems, Xing Wu would sit in the back row and listen along with everyone. Qing Ye once asked him amusingly why he attended her tutoring sessions when he never paid attention in regular classes.

Xing Wu answered seriously, "Mainly here for the teacher's looks."

"..." Qing Ye genuinely wondered if Xing Wu was thinking about inappropriate things while staring at her during her explanations.

During daytime outside the inn, Qing Ye worked like a superwoman - busy with studies, factory matters, her brain constantly operating at full capacity without rest.

But after leaving the factory at night, the moment she got on Xing Wu's Little Angel, she would instantly deflate like a punctured ball. Many times, she would hug Xing Wu's waist and fall asleep leaning against his back.

Fearing she might fall off, Xing Wu eventually had her sit in front so he could hold her. During the ten-minute ride to the inn, Qing Ye would often be sound asleep in his arms. Sometimes she would cling to Xing Wu with closed eyes, following him upstairs; other times Xing Wu would simply carry her into the room.

That period was probably the toughest phase of their lives - lacking money for everything, lacking experience, even lacking sleep time. All they had was sheer passion for life. During that time, Qing Ye's most frequent saying was: "When we have money someday, let's find some deserted place and sleep properly for three days and three nights." Yes, sleep had become the most luxurious thing in their lives.Although life was tough, there were moments of finding joy in hardship. Xing Wu would occasionally bring her small trinkets from the county town. Later, when Qing Ye thought back carefully, she realized Xing Wu had given her many things during that period—a cool baseball cap in matching black-and-white couple styles, an hourglass shaped like a bottle since they were both Aquarius. The hourglass representing time seemed to hold some special significance for them back then.

Xing Wu gradually helped her acquire all her daily necessities. During that time, he even bought Qing Ye’s clothes, socks, underwear, and bras—he had long memorized her sizes by heart.

When Qing Ye was at her most overwhelmed, Xing Wu quietly took care of her daily life. Though in the world she couldn’t see, Xing Wu was also busy. He told her he needed to practice driving from afternoon till evening. Once at dusk, Qing Ye ran into Huang Mao at Zhazha Pavilion and wondered why he wasn’t practicing with Xing Wu. Huang Mao confidently claimed Xing Wu’s skills were worse and needed more practice, boasting that he himself was a born racing prodigy due to family genetics. Qing Ye just laughed off his nonsense.

On the weekend before the tasting event, after working two extra days, they finally produced all the products with new packaging. Then came setting up the venue.

Fang Lei, Shi Min, Xiao Ling Tong, and Pang Hu all volunteered to help. They moved all the tables into the yard, arranging them in a U-shape and covering them with clean tablecloths. Liu Nian was in charge of presenting the tasting samples. Xing Wu carried the newly made promotional standee to the entrance, then went with Quan Ya to hang banners at the intersection so residents and passersby would immediately notice the event.

The factory building was thoroughly cleaned inside. Shi Min and Fang Lei specially bought decorative balloons and streamers to decorate the yard. Pang Hu called Huang Mao and Lang Dai to help inflate balloons. Later, Da Hei, Hua Bi, and other friends of Xing Wu’s gradually arrived—many of whom Qing Ye had never seen before. If not for this event, she wouldn’t have known Xing Wu had so many buddies.

Each brought a flower basket, neatly lining the pathway at the yard entrance—dozens on each side, creating an impressive spectacle. Everything felt refreshed.

On the day of the tasting event, turnout exceeded Qing Ye’s expectations. She initially thought maybe one-tenth of Liu Nian’s nearly thousand-member group chat would show up, but surprisingly, many came with their families starting early morning. Da Hei also gathered plenty of neighbors from Electronics Street to support them. Even Lao Yang brought many teachers. Seeing the students they’d mentored now independently handling tasks—some packaging, others explaining products—even the usually shy Shi Min was leading tours through the factory with a megaphone. It was something never apparent at school; faced with this scene, the teachers felt for the first time that their kids had grown up.

In the afternoon, even Li Lanfang brought a group of her Zhazha Pavilion mahjong friends to support the business. Though it was a tasting event with free samples, since the snacks only cost a few dozen yuan per pack, almost everyone bought some to take home after trying them.They had prepared ample inventory, yet it had already run critically low just past noon—something Qing Ye had never anticipated.

So she quickly implemented an emergency plan: having everyone leave their contact information, with Du Qiyan and Fang Lei responsible for compiling the list. All purchased products would be delivered within three days. This way, they managed to sustain a portion of the afternoon orders.

At two o'clock, the most active core group of sisters and aunties from Liu Nian's chat group arrived together. Among these dozens of people were some of Liu Nian's regular customers, some were group administrators—in short, they were all among the earliest members of Dazzle Island.

Qing Ye recognized some of them and personally welcomed them. Using the projector temporarily borrowed from Quan Ya, she introduced their online store and product range to this core group. She then opened the online store and went through each product's unit price, promising those present a 30% discount off the online store prices as a token of appreciation for their long-term support. Of course, she encouraged them to share on social media or ask friends if they were interested—these referrals could also receive direct rebates.

Initially, Liu Nian and the others thought Qing Ye was doing this to thank these mothers and sisters for their ongoing support. But none of them expected that this very group would later become Sunny Valley's first batch of distributors.

The tasting event ended at four in the afternoon. Though everyone was utterly exhausted, they still had many accumulated orders requiring production, packaging, and shipping. Pang Hu and the others stayed behind, insisting on helping out.

In the evening, Li Lanfang brought several pots of food. Everyone gathered around the messy table to eat. Qing Ye swore it was the most delicious meal she'd ever had in her life—the group devoured their food amidst boisterous laughter and chatter.

Huang Mao, eating excitedly, asked Qing Ye: "How much did we earn today?"

"Not sure yet, I'll calculate after we finish eating."

Just as she said this, Liu Nian's phone rang. Li Lanfang took his empty bowl and served him some soup. It was unclear who called, but Liu Nian kept saying excitedly into the phone: "No problem, no problem, I'll arrange it tomorrow."

After hanging up, he turned to everyone with shining eyes: "Sister Yan's younger sister works at the county market, right? Her sister saw our products at her place earlier and wants us to send two boxes of each product to sell there in the next couple days. She said she'll transfer the money later. Qing Ye, we're giving her the 30% discount, right?"

Qing Ye nodded: "Yes."

Fang Lei put down her bowl, wiped her mouth, and said with a smile: "Well, business is coming!"

Li Lanfang handed the soup to Liu Nian and remarked: "Oh, I never realized you had such strong business skills. When you worked for me before, you couldn't squeeze out a word even with eight blows?"

The group burst into laughter. Huang Mao, caught up in the excitement, chimed in: "I'd say it all comes down to you having a good daughter-in-law."

The moment he said this, the entire courtyard fell dead silent. Fang Lei and Pang Hu glanced at Huang Mao. Shi Min kept her head down while eating. Liu Nian and Du Qiyan acted as if they hadn't heard. Quan Ya continued dismantling things without turning around. Li Lanfang looked at Huang Mao in confusion. Huang Mao immediately realized his mistake and fearfully glanced at Xing Wu.

Xing Wu expressionlessly served Qing Ye some soup, while Qing Ye's eyes were fixed on Huang Mao with an intensity that seemed capable of drawing blood.Huang Mao's scalp instantly went numb, and he immediately wanted to bite off his own tongue and swallow it whole!