Chapter 165

The three of them shared a simple reunion meal, and early the next morning, Liang Yi followed the GPS and took Hu Qianqian out to explore the local market fair.

Wei Sheng hadn’t been wrong—Langshan’s market culture was indeed fascinating. They had set out a bit late, and by the time they arrived, the place was already bustling. From a distance, they could hear the lively chatter of the crowd, but their car couldn’t go any further—the road was packed with people! There were folks driving ox carts, donkey carts, pedaling tricycles, and others carrying large bamboo baskets on their backs.

Some of the baskets were filled with farm produce for sale, while others surprisingly held one or two small children!

Seeing a little one peeking over the edge of a basket, round head poking out with an adorably curious expression, Hu Qianqian couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She happened to have a stash of preserved plums Liang Yi had prepared for her motion sickness in the front seat. Grabbing a handful, she started handing them out through the car window to the passing children.

The locals were warm and friendly, and with Hu Qianqian’s sweet and harmless appearance, some of them even returned the gesture—offering her homemade rice cakes or homegrown fruits from their baskets in exchange.

The SUV struggled forward for a few hundred meters before finally getting completely stuck.

At times like this, even a million-yuan luxury car was no match for a farmer’s humble three-wheeled cart.

Liang Yi parked by the roadside and took Hu Qianqian by the hand, following the flow of people. They hadn’t walked far when they came upon a large open area where several outdoor stoves had been set up. Vendors were selling beef noodle soup, lamb noodle soup, tofu pudding, fried sticky rice cakes, deep-fried potatoes, vegetable wraps… There were no loud calls from the stall owners—regulars simply found their favorite stalls, placed their orders, and either stood nearby to wait or found a place to sit and eat.

The seating was extremely basic: folding tables and plastic stools. Hygiene wasn’t exactly top-notch either, with greasy tabletops and all.

But that was part of the charm of street food—if you got too picky about cleanliness, you’d miss out on the whole experience.

Fortunately, Hu Qianqian had plenty of experience from visiting rural markets in the past. While Liang Yi went to place their order, she pulled out a pack of wet wipes from her bag, gave the table a good wipe-down, then laid down two disposable napkins. That way, once they were done eating, they could just toss the napkins and leave the table clean for the next diners.

Liang Yi ordered two bowls of sweet tofu pudding, two fried sticky rice cakes, and one vegetable wrap cut in half. He also got two colorful glutinous rice balls and, seeing the fried potatoes looked good, added a portion of those too—topped with the local signature chili powder and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. It all looked mouthwateringly delicious.

The prices were shockingly cheap. A large portion of fried potatoes was just five yuan! The sticky rice cakes were one yuan each. The vegetable wrap was three yuan without meat, five with. Liang Yi asked for fried egg and pork loin in the glutinous rice balls, and even then, they were only seven yuan apiece. The tofu pudding? Just one and a half yuan a bowl.

This was probably the cheapest breakfast Liang Yi had ever eaten. In fact, they couldn’t even finish it all. When they got to the rice balls, they were both too full. Liang Yi was about to toss them when Hu Qianqian stopped him.

“Let’s take them back. We can reheat them over the charcoal fire tonight. No need to waste.”

Liang Yi nodded. From then on, whenever he saw something tasty, he only bought one portion, and the two of them shared, taking turns with each bite. They looked every bit the loving couple on a romantic mountain getaway.

“Boss, want to take a look at our silver jewelry? Your wife is so beautiful—why not pick out a set for her? She’d look amazing in it!” As they were walking, a young girl selling silver accessories stopped them.

Hu Qianqian’s eyes lit up at the sight of the dazzling silver pieces adorning the girl. Liang Yi chuckled.

He’d thought Hu Qianqian wasn’t into jewelry. After all, he’d once gifted her a diamond necklace worth over half a million, and she’d never even worn it. He had been wondering if he should rethink his gift strategy. Turns out he had the right idea—just the wrong kind of gift!

They followed the girl into a small wooden building by the street.

The girl had a lovely name—Jiang Yinling. The wooden house had been passed down from her grandmother’s generation.

The storefront was narrow, but once inside, it opened up into a surprisingly spacious interior. On the left was a workbench where two silversmiths were busy crafting jewelry. On the right was a glass display counter framed in wood, behind which stood a woman also adorned in silver from head to toe.

“Mom! Come take a look at this lady—she looks just like that celebrity from the magazine you kept! She’d look amazing in our silver jewelry!” Jiang Yinling excitedly pulled Hu Qianqian over to her mother.

The woman looked up at Hu Qianqian and gasped in surprise. “She really does!”

She then asked if Hu Qianqian’s mother was the famous singer Jin Ling from the 1960s.

It was clear this woman was a die-hard fan of Jin Ling.

Hu Qianqian smiled and shook her head. She and Liang Yi figured the shop owner was just making conversation. After all, how many people in the world actually looked like celebrities? But the woman, seeing they didn’t believe her, pulled out a large scrapbook from under the counter. Flipping to the first page, she turned it around and pointed for Hu Qianqian to see. “Take a look for yourself—don’t you think you look alike?”

Liang Yi leaned in curiously, and sure enough, Hu Qianqian’s newly styled retro curls made her look strikingly similar to the singer Jin Ling in the magazine photo—at least eighty percent alike!

In the photo, Jin Ling wore traditional ethnic attire and dazzling silver jewelry. If Hu Qianqian dressed the same, no one would doubt it if someone claimed Jin Ling had come back to life.

The shop owner clearly hadn’t expected to see someone resembling her idol in the flesh. Even if it was just a lookalike, the surprise and joy were real.

“I’ve got a brand-new outfit here, never worn. If you don’t mind, why not try it on along with our silver jewelry? There’s a photo studio in town—you could take some artistic portraits. It’d be a great souvenir from your trip to Langshan!”

Hu Qianqian glanced at Liang Yi, a little tempted.

“Go ahead and try it on. We’re here to have fun anyway, no rush.” Liang Yi encouraged her.

Hu Qianqian was quickly whisked away by the mother and daughter to the backyard to change.

Half an hour later, the shop owner led out a stunning woman dressed in traditional ethnic clothing, her entire body adorned with silver jewelry.

Liang Yi was instantly mesmerized.

So was Wei Sheng, who had just happened to pass by with his livestream team while filming at the market.

“Huh? Boss Wei, that looks like your mom!”

“What do you mean ‘looks like’? That IS Boss Wei’s mom!”

“Wow, she looks so young!”

Back when the company’s shareholders changed, Wei Sheng had brought Hu Qianqian to a few meetings. Most of the longtime employees recognized her. But at those meetings, she had dressed in formal business attire, trying to appear mature and composed. Now, in her brightly colored ethnic outfit, she looked so youthful that people might mistake her for Wei Sheng’s sister.

“You look amazing! Ma’am, is this outfit for sale? And all the jewelry my wife is wearing—we’ll take it all.” The more Liang Yi looked, the more he adored her. Diamonds? Please. They didn’t suit Qianqian at all. She was a true, homegrown Chinese beauty—meant to wear these classic, traditional gold and silver pieces.

Wei Sheng had hesitated for just a second and missed his chance to buy it for his mom. Whatever goodwill he’d just started to feel toward his new stepfather evaporated instantly.

“Mom, Uncle Liang, what are you doing here?” Wei Sheng walked in with a forced smile, livestream team in tow.

“Son? Didn’t you say you had work today? Why are you at the market?” Hu Qianqian asked in surprise.

Wei Sheng: “…” That excuse only worked on his mom.

He was just trying to give the newlyweds some private time!

When she heard her son was here with a livestream team to explore the market and help the locals of Sanchaling build an online platform, Hu Qianqian quickly waved him off. “Then go do your work. I’ve got your Uncle Liang with me.”

Wei “Mama’s Boy” Sheng felt like he’d been struck by lightning.

She’d only just gotten married, and already she was choosing her husband over her son?

“Ahem—Wei Sheng’s not just here for fun. While you were changing, I chatted with this gentleman and learned that Langshan used to have a famous silver mine. The local silverworking craft is quite renowned. Since Wei Sheng and his team are here to highlight regional specialties, I’d say silver jewelry is definitely one of Langshan’s treasures worth showcasing.” Liang Yi quickly stepped in to speak up for his stepson.

Come on! If he didn’t seize this chance to earn some brownie points with his new son, when would he?

Liang Yi had already set everything up, and Wei Sheng couldn’t help but curl his lips in secret. As expected of a lawyer—he really knew how to handle people. Then he followed the steps down, nodding to indicate that he truly hadn’t seen Hu Qianqian earlier. He explained that he had only come this way because he was curious about the local silverwork craftsmanship and had asked around to find the place.

Liang Yi hadn’t expected that the shop they casually wandered into would turn out to be the most renowned silver workshop in the area. Word had it that the family had been in the silver business for generations, dating all the way back to the Ming and Qing dynasties¹. No wonder even someone like him, who was used to seeing fine things, had been stunned by Hu Qianqian’s outfit just now.

The shopkeeper’s family had unexpectedly received a large order, and after settling the bill, Liang Yi felt like he’d struck gold. The total cost of all the silver accessories Hu Qianqian was wearing didn’t even come close to the imported diamond watch he had bought her when they got married.

All he could say was, the revival of traditional Chinese culture still had a long road ahead!

Right now, Wei Sheng just wanted to drag the village chief, Jiang Yongzhi, out and beat him up!

Old Man Jiang! Didn’t you say Sanchaling didn’t have any local specialties worth mentioning? These exquisite silver pieces don’t count?

And what about all the bamboo and rattan handicrafts they saw along the way? The hand-roasted high-mountain misty green tea, the cured meats, smoked fish, ham, rice wine, glutinous rice cakes, tea oil—none of those count as local specialties?

Forget everything else. Just the silver jewelry from this shop alone—Wei Sheng swore on his infamous title as the “Women’s Best Friend”—if these handcrafted silver pieces didn’t sell out in his livestream, then he’d make peace with the TV station on the spot!

With so many eyes on her, Hu Qianqian felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to go inside to change out of the elaborate accessories.

“Wait, Mom! Can you be our model for a bit?” Wei Sheng suddenly stopped her.

Inside the small wooden building, steeped in a strong sense of nostalgia, the clinking of silver being worked echoed in the background as artisans focused on their craft. Wei Sheng borrowed the shop’s space and had his mom, dressed in vibrant traditional ethnic attire and adorned with ornate silver jewelry, walk through the rustic building while he filmed a short vlog—less than five minutes long.

And it was this very vlog that, just a few days later, turned Sanchaling’s handmade silver jewelry into a viral sensation in Wei Sheng’s company’s livestream. The pieces sold out instantly.

How to put it? Hu Qianqian wasn’t a professional model. She had never even received any formal training. But when she walked quietly through the old wooden building in traditional ethnic clothing, in that moment, everyone who saw the video felt the same thing: peace and serenity.

Some people are just born with that kind of aura. They might not stand out in a crowd, but when the camera focuses on them, the dappled light falling across a porcelain-white face captures the essence of a classic Chinese beauty—gentle and graceful, like flowing water.

In the video, Hu Qianqian was clearly not a youthful girl in her teens, nor a dazzling beauty that turned heads everywhere. In fact, by modeling standards, she was already considered older. But when those eyes—eyes that had seen the ups and downs of life yet remained pure—looked into the camera, countless people felt their hearts skip a beat.

She was truly beautiful.

“Our Teacher Wei has made it big! Where did he find such an elegant model?” Fans were overjoyed.

That aesthetic! That poise! She could easily be cast in a Palace Museum promo video and fit right in.

“Wait a second! I think I know who this model is—look!” Before long, the ever-resourceful netizens dug up a screenshot of Hu Qianqian from a previous statement released by Zhou Mingxing.

Once they compared the images, they were floored. Model? No way—that was their beloved future mother-in-law!

Countless of Wei Sheng’s female fans swarmed to the video, affectionately calling her “Mom,” and some even asked when she’d be free. If she didn’t have time for matchmaking, no problem—they’d happily pack themselves up and deliver themselves to her door.

Wei Sheng had never expected that the video he shot to promote Sanchaling’s silver jewelry would end up making the model more popular than the product itself! Several influencer agencies had already reached out, asking if Hu Qianqian was interested in signing with them. The company staff could only laugh and politely decline.

What a joke! They were in the influencer business themselves. If they wanted to promote the boss’s mom, they didn’t need outsiders to do it.

Besides, Hu Qianqian wasn’t just any housewife. She was the wife of renowned lawyer Liang Yi, a wealthy woman worth over a hundred million. Why would she need to become an influencer?

“Why not?” Hu Qianqian, however, didn’t have any bias against the idea. “If it can help with Langshan’s poverty alleviation and agricultural development efforts, I’d be happy to model.”

During her days in Langshan, Hu Qianqian had attended several village meetings with her son. She knew he was working on something meaningful—something that could change the lives of many struggling families in Sanchaling.

Hu Qianqian had always felt a bit insecure, believing that aside from running the shop and taking care of the household, she hadn’t contributed much to society. Especially after marrying Liang Yi, watching both her husband and son dedicate themselves to public service made her feel like she was holding the family back.

But if becoming an influencer could help the people of Sanchaling even a little… then maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all?

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes