When Wang Qiqi shook Han Tao awake, she truly wanted to curse. Her head throbbed; sleeping on the train was already difficult enough, the sound of the wheels grating against the tracks was irritating, and then the little one woke up around nine and never stopped fussing. Although he listened to Song Yao and didn't climb onto the upper bunk to bother Han Tao, the commotion below was considerable. One moment he was chattering about something, the next he was darting in and out of the compartment. Wang Qiqi, already sleep-deprived, couldn't actually sleep, so she just lay there with her eyes closed, resting.

As for what time the little one finally fell asleep last night, Wang Qiqi had no clue, but she knew for a fact it was well past midnight. "Qiqi, time to get up. We'll be arriving in half an hour; you still need to wash up." Han Tao looked at Wang Qiqi, still burrowed in her blanket, clearly wanting more sleep, and felt a surge of envy. He hadn't slept well either. Just as he was drifting off, Taotao’s restlessness kept him awake. By the time the boy settled down, Han Tao’s own sleepiness had vanished. He only managed to feel sleepy again past three in the morning and slept only briefly after that.

Wang Qiqi desperately wanted to say she wouldn't wash up, that she’d just walk out of the station looking disheveled—who cared if people recognized her and she was embarrassed? But she absolutely dared not say it aloud; even if she didn't mind the disgrace, Song Yao wouldn't allow it. "I'm getting up now, right now."

Song Yao, holding a towel, grew exasperated with the stubborn little brat still under the covers, refusing to get up or let her help him wash his face. She smacked his bottom hard. "This little monster! He won't sleep when he should, and he won't wake up when he should!" Hmph, yesterday he simply refused to sleep, insisting on making noise until past one in the morning, exhausting Song Yao completely. She desperately wanted to hand her son off to his father to deal with, but to her surprise, the father was already snoring soundly.

Song Yao knew that both Wang Qiqi and Han Tao had suffered because of the boy's antics, but she hadn't expected the father to sleep so soundly. Just the day before yesterday, after learning the details of the Gong family debt, he had been wide awake half the night. How could he be sleeping so soundly in the blink of an eye? Song Yao thought the boy was unbelievably thick-skinned. With that thought, she looked at Gong Peixing, who had just finished his ablutions, and snapped, "Wipe your son’s face. Make him look clean."

Gong Peixing looked at the towel suddenly thrust into his hand, feeling utterly bewildered. "I'm wiping our son’s face?" No way. He could barely remember the last time he’d done that. After he’d been

“I’ll certainly keep that in mind. A former comrade-in-arms of my father’s is a director at a large machinery plant; I can try to find out how they source their parts. If they also outsource, I might be able to help make an introduction. Of course, the most important thing still depends on your brother-in-law—the product comes first.” Juliana didn't know Gong Peixing and his associates very well, but she was certain that with Wang Qiqi there, they wouldn't dare commit any act of poaching talent.

“Absolutely, absolutely.” Wang Qiqi thought to herself that since the venture was just starting out, even if Gong Peixing was short-sighted, he wouldn't neglect the product quality right at the beginning.

Song Yao, standing nearby, subtly cast a look toward Wang Qiqi, indicating that this success was all her doing; without her, this matter wouldn't have been resolved so quickly.