CHAPTER 489: CHAPTER 489: THREE PATHS

Actually, Dongsheng feels there’s no need to change, just living there would be fine.

But Granny Lu insists that changes must be made; after all, it’s going to be his own home from now on. It should be comfortable to live in, kind of like a fresh start. She doesn’t want her grandson to suffer any hardship. She has been blaming herself, afraid she wouldn’t sleep well at night if she didn’t treat this grandson well.

After tidying up, everyone needed to rest for a while; they had just gotten off the plane and were really tired.

But despite the exhaustion, Dongsheng felt like he was dreaming. He pulled the blanket up to his chin. It had a faint smell of laundry detergent, very pleasant, and was also very dry, without a hint of dampness—unlike the blanket in his small room, which felt wet whenever he covered himself with it, especially in winter when there was no warmth inside the bed, making his hands and feet ice cold.

He gently rubbed his face against the blanket. Truly, the blanket was so warm, the bed so clean, with no strange or musty odors. Even the pain in his leg, which always ached faintly, seemed to subside. Every time his grandmother saw his leg, she felt heartbroken, blaming herself, thinking that if she had acted earlier, perhaps his leg wouldn’t have ended up like this.

But he held no grudges against anyone; he knew it was fate, his own fate.

After a sleep, when he awoke, only Qin Xiangnuan was in the courtyard. Granny Lu had gone to the store, Qin Xiangyang had returned home, and as for Jian Zhiqing, there were still matters to attend to at work.

"You’re awake," said Qin Xiangnuan, setting the design drawings she had beside her to one side and then pointed to a seat nearby.

"Cousin, come sit here first."

Dongsheng sat down, feeling a bit uneasy. He stole a few glances at the incomprehensible design drawings. This was a stark contrast from his previous life, something he’d never even imagined, and now stepping on the ground, he felt an unsettling disbelief. Could this all really be a dream?

Qin Xiangnuan tidied up her own design drafts and placed them aside before staring straight at Dongsheng.

Feeling awkward under such a gaze, he touched his face, wondering if it was dirty.

Qin Xiangnuan realized that her cousin, just like in his past life, would remember any kindness shown to him and would feel the need to repay it, no matter how difficult life got. Only, some regrets had already been made, like his leg, for instance.

"Brother, I need to talk to you about our family’s situation." She lifted the corners of her lips slightly, a smile forming, but for some reason, Dongsheng couldn’t help but sit up straight, his body tensing.

Was the family situation not good?

He was still thinking about how to repay the money he owed Qin Xiangyang. I wonder if there are any construction sites around here where I could work?

"Nuannuan..." He licked his dry lips, "I can work, though I don’t earn much, I can help support the family."

"That’s not it," Qin Xiangnuan felt her cousin was simply too endearingly honest, wondering how the Du Family could have produced such an anomaly.

"Our family’s financial situation is good, you don’t need to worry about it."

Qin Xiangnuan was reassuring Dongsheng, "What I want to discuss with you is the direction your future life will take."

"What?" Dongsheng was somewhat perplexed by the term; he had only completed junior high. If his dad hadn’t died, he would have taken over the family business—yeah, farming, tilling the land for a lifetime, then getting married and having kids. He had never thought he’d come to a big city like Capital City. As for the future, he was still very much in the dark.

"Brother, I have three options for you to choose from,"

Qin Xiangnuan didn’t elaborate much, trusting that Dongsheng would understand.

Dongsheng was about to ask, but, facing Qin Xiangnuan’s overly calm demeanor, he ended up just opening his mouth and not asking anything in the end.

"Yeah, tell me," he was waiting.

"The first," Qin Xiangnuan held up a finger, "Granny Lu has her own little shop, selling food like spicy and sour noodles and pancakes, doing quite well. The shop is owned outright; bringing in several thousands of dollars a month."

Dongsheng was startled, thousands of dollars...

Qin Xiangnuan’s voice continued; she took pleasure in seeing Dongsheng’s surprised yet composed reaction.

"The first option I’m offering you is to help Granny Lu manage that shop. It’s in my name, but I will transfer the ownership to you. However, this means you might spend your life in the restaurant business. You should know that although the catering industry can be profitable, it’s also tiring, and not exactly clean."

"The second," her voice paused to let Dongsheng digest the information.

"At home, we have a couple of internet cafés. This is the latest technology, and my brother is very adept at it now. You can learn from Xiang Yang how to manage an internet café, be an internet café administrator, earn a salary. For at least the next ten years, there will be no problem with this line of work, but after ten years, due to technological advancement, internet cafés are likely to decline. New talent abounds in this new era, so it might evolve into something else."

"And third, learn tailoring from me." She separated the designs she had sketched and laid them before Dongsheng. "For tailoring, you don’t need a certain level of education or knowledge. I operate at the high end. Our workers aren’t called tailors, they’re called Clothing Designers. Though the making process is slow, the resulting garments are top-notch, piece by piece."

"The three industries each have their pros and cons. If you choose to run Granny Lu’s shop and sell food, you can start making money right away—carrying tens of thousands of dollars within a year wouldn’t be a problem. But it’s dirty, tiring, and stressful. Working at an internet café is a lot more laid-back, with a steady income. You’ll need to learn, but the basic knowledge isn’t that hard. And if you go into tailoring with me, it’s going to be a long process. It doesn’t matter what you look like, your education, or anything else; it’s just about endurance and hard work."

"Brother, which one do you choose?"

Although their family was well-off, she wouldn’t let Dongsheng stay unemployed. No matter how much money others have, it’s just a number; only the money you earn yourself truly belongs to you and feels right to spend. What she wanted was to give Dongsheng a skill, so he could spend his own money and make his own decisions. This way, at the very least, he wouldn’t end up on the wrong path.

Dongsheng was seriously contemplating, but he was indecisive. Truth be told, he didn’t know which option to pick.

Qin Xiangnuan didn’t pressure him; she resumed sketching. Actually, she had hoped that Dongsheng would choose to be a Clothing Designer—the work is hard at first but pays off later, and it’s also a profitable profession. Most importantly, it is a very refined occupation.

After a long while, Dongsheng lifted his head, seemingly having made a decision.

"I’ll go with Granny. She’s getting on in years, while I’m still young. I should do it. Let her enjoy her old age. Plus, I’m not that educated, all that stuff about internet cafés and computers, it’s really too far from me. I’m afraid I can’t learn it. And the tailoring you mentioned..." He poked fun at himself, seriously, it wasn’t a joke. Those were jobs typically done by women. As a man, what was he doing getting involved? He used to be the guy who did the heavy lifting; he wasn’t afraid of hard work. Plus, opening a restaurant should be much easier than toiling away at a job, right?