Chapter 72: The Delivery

In this era, transportation and communication were both inconvenient, and a lot of time was spent just getting to interviews and communicating with the interviewees.

On her first day, Su Qinghu had Sister Li to guide her; on the second day, she had Yuan Hang, who seemed to get along anywhere, leading the way. The interview assignments really weren’t heavy.

They took a few photos of the inside of the swimming pool—of course, they also made sure to include the safety equipment and warning signs, and finally snapped a couple of shots of people swimming. That was it.

This time, Yuan Hang only took one photo of each subject; the rest were all taken by Su Qinghu under his guidance.

Su Qinghu came to understand that while everyone could agree on composition in this era, when it came to capturing the essence of a subject, Yuan Hang, who had grown up in these times, was still a cut above.

""Usually, one article needs to be paired with one photo,"" Yuan Hang said, coming out with the camera, Su Qinghu following behind. He glanced sideways at her, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, ""How long do you think it'll take you to finish an article from today’s interview?""

Su Qinghu sensed there was more to his question, so she didn’t rush to give a time. Instead, she probed, ""Could you elaborate?""

""If you can finish an article in thirty minutes or an hour, then we can take a different route back to the office,"" Yuan Hang said as plainly as possible. ""Just now, you asked my friend those questions because you wanted to buy a swimsuit, right?""

He was basically saying outright: if we take a different route, it’ll be convenient for you to run your errand.

Su Qinghu laughed. ""Let’s take a different route. It’s good not to retrace our steps.""

""...,"" Yuan Hang packed up the camera, shook his head, and muttered to himself, ""The more I look at you, the more you seem like an old hand who’s been working for years.""

He’d already tempted her with benefits, but she still hadn’t told him how long it would take her to write an article. She was slippery, really slippery. Not easy to squeeze anything out of her.

There weren’t many swimsuit styles available these days, and kids’ suits were even simpler. Su Qinghu bought the swimsuit, folded it up as small as possible, stuffed it in her bag, and no one could tell from the outside.

Back at the office, she wrote her articles and submitted them for review...

By the time she finished both articles, it was already 5:20 in the afternoon.

Sitting at her desk, Su Qinghu silently prayed: Please, let there be no urgent assignments, please, no urgent assignments.

Yesterday she’d been lucky—the interviewee happened to live near her home. If another urgent assignment came up today, well... who knew what would happen.

""Your pass rate is pretty high,"" Yuan Hang strolled over to her desk. ""There’s hardly anything that needs revising.""

Su Qinghu replied, ""That’s all thanks to Sister Li’s teaching, and your good photos.""

Both articles this time had used Yuan Hang’s photos, which made Su Qinghu feel a little down for a moment. But after clarifying the standards, she had to admit she was convinced.

They fit the theme—and not just that, they went beyond.

Yuan Hang looked at her, shook his head helplessly, and walked away.

This little fox is slippery as can be, he thought. It’s really hard to get anything out of her. Squeezing her for more... that’ll be tough in the future.

As soon as the end of the workday arrived, Su Qinghu let out a long breath, grabbed her bag, and the moment she saw someone else stand up, she immediately got up and rushed out.

How wonderful—no urgent assignments today!

Sister Li and Yuan Hang watched her dash out, laughing.

Yuan Hang said, ""See? That’s how scared she is of the chief.""

The poor girl had just started and was already being sent all over the place, even expected to keep up with the veterans. Not easy at all.

Sister Li smiled, ""Don’t just blame the chief. Can you honestly say you didn’t play favorites when picking photos for today’s articles?""

""How is that playing favorites? She had one of her photos in there. I just didn’t tell her, so she wouldn’t get cocky—I wanted to humble her a bit,"" Yuan Hang said, laughing as he walked out of the office. ""Looks like it didn’t humble her at all...""

Su Qinghu really was interesting. When it came to work, she was all business, always keeping things just right—not pushing too hard, but not slacking off either.

Sister Li just smiled and said nothing. With Su Qinghu’s work standards, even without help from her husband or teacher, she’d stand out if given the chance.

When you have real skills, you can stay calm and collected at work. That’s a rare quality in any field.

Whatever they were saying, Su Qinghu didn’t know. She was just happy that when she arrived at the bus stop, the bus she needed happened to pull up.

To Su Qinghu, this kind of thing was a little surprise in life.

Of course, many people wouldn’t see it that way—they’d just think it was something perfectly ordinary.

But most of life is plain and uneventful. If you can find little surprises in everyday moments and make yourself happy, that’s a blessing in itself.

When she got home, the sun hadn’t fully set yet. She was just about to knock on the door when a familiar voice called out from the side.

""Hey, Big Egg’s Mom!""

Su Qinghu froze, sucking in a breath. Big Egg’s Mom? What kind of weird nickname was that?

""Call me Su Qinghu!"" she turned around and said sternly to Liu Guifang. ""Or Comrade Su!""

Liu Guifang’s heart skipped a beat. She clutched a string of little baskets tighter, her voice stammering, ""I... I brought you the little baskets you wanted.""

She’d been so protective of the kids before, and now she didn’t even want to admit she was their mom?

Liu Guifang looked at Su Qinghu, her confidence slowly returning, even a bit contemptuous. A stepmother is a stepmother—her true colors show after just a few days. Hmph!

Su Qinghu noticed the change in her expression but didn’t bother to respond. She just gestured for her to come in.

Big Egg and Little Egg were doing their homework in the yard. When they saw Su Qinghu come home, Little Egg instinctively wanted to run over, but Big Egg pressed him down with a firm hand.

""Brother?"" Little Egg turned to look at Big Egg. ""Isn’t it rude not to say hello?""

Big Egg replied coldly, ""This is how we say hello.""

Little Egg fell silent, sighed, and gave in. Then he broke into a smile and waved at Su Qinghu. ""Mama~~~""

""Hey!"" Su Qinghu answered, waving. ""Come here, both of you.""

Little Egg grinned, showing his white teeth, and whispered to Big Egg, ""Brother, you can let go now.""

Mom was calling them!

Big Egg let go and stood up, while Little Egg dashed over.

""Mom, what is it?"" Little Egg ran up, looking up at Su Qinghu, a human sunflower once again.

Su Qinghu smiled. ""Come, check if there’s anything wrong with these little baskets.""

As she spoke, she naturally handed her bag to Big Egg, who had just walked over. ""Help me put my bag away, and grab the receipt from the drawer in my bedside table.""

Big Egg: ""...""

He stared at the bag in front of him, hesitated for a moment, but still took it and silently headed to the bedroom.

Liu Guifang handed Su Qinghu the string of little baskets. ""There are twenty each of the bamboo, rattan, and straw ones. Count them.""

All these little baskets had been made according to Su Qinghu’s drawings—some were chubby and cute, others slender and elegant. Just looking at them, you could tell they were adorable and delicate."