Chapter 182

Liang Yi’s sudden arrival in Yuanxi Village wasn’t just to provide legal support for Wei Sheng. A more important reason was that he had come to accompany Hu Qianqian for a location shoot for her new promotional video.

Who would’ve thought that, unable to trust the chaos of the entertainment industry, the esteemed Lawyer Liang would actually step down from his pedestal to personally take on the role of part-time manager for his wife?

Well, considering how messy the industry can be, it’s no wonder Liang Yi didn’t dare entrust the pure and kind-hearted Hu Qianqian to a stranger.

Wei Sheng himself hadn’t expected that the short ethnic-style video Hu Qianqian had filmed at Langshan’s Sanchaling would end up making his mother, now in her early forties, a minor celebrity in the traditional culture scene as a transformation blogger.

To be honest, Hu Qianqian looked like any other pretty woman when dressed in modern or casual clothes. But once she put on outfits with ethnic or vintage flair, she carried a whole different aura.

Not long ago, when Hu Qianqian and Liang Yi visited the Jiangdong Town mining culture theme park that Wei Sheng had helped develop, she spontaneously filmed a set of 1980s-style transformation videos—and they unexpectedly went viral.

With her carefully styled curls, vermilion red lips, oversized earrings, and era-specific outfits, even Liang Yi was stunned by her look.

After the video was uploaded, it quickly racked up over ten million views and millions of likes. Since the star of the video was the boss’s mother, the company immediately reported the shocking numbers to Wei Sheng.

“Boss, your Empress Dowager¹ has gone viral! Are we launching her debut, or should we suppress the buzz and let her enjoy her retirement in peace?”

Wei Sheng had assumed his mother would choose to continue enjoying a peaceful family life, just like before. But to his surprise, Hu Qianqian actually wanted to keep making content.

What surprised him even more was that she didn’t just film videos on her own. She rallied a group of women around her age—many of whom had been full-time housewives without jobs or social security due to family and childcare responsibilities—and formed a cultural creative studio.

Wei Sheng had every reason to believe that this idea came from his stepfather, Liang Yi.

Liang Yi’s proposal to Hu Qianqian targeted a gap in both the domestic and international markets. People from Wei Sheng’s generation and those younger rarely knew how to use sewing machines, knit sweaters, embroider, or crochet hats anymore.

But for Hu Qianqian’s generation, who had grown up during times of material scarcity and had limited entertainment as children, many still retained these traditional handicraft skills.

It just so happened that Hu Qianqian’s transformation video account had taken off. Thanks to several viral videos, she now had over a million followers, giving her real monetization potential. With her husband’s encouragement, Hu Qianqian finally took the brave first step toward starting her own business.

Her main reason for gathering her friends to start this venture was to help them out.

Hu Qianqian had once been in the same position—having to ask her husband for money just to buy a green onion. She knew better than anyone the shame and helplessness of that situation.

These women had hands and feet and wanted to earn their own money, to stand tall and speak with confidence at home. But while their husbands sweet-talked them into staying home to care for the family, promising to “take care of them,” what that really meant was turning them into unpaid maids for the entire household.

The so-called “monthly allowance” they received was mostly spent on household expenses—utility bills, groceries, clothing for the whole family, milk and fruit…

Even worse, the money their husbands gave them was often barely enough. These housewives, with no jobs or income, had to pinch every penny. They hardly spent anything on themselves.

And the most heartbreaking part? After years of struggling alongside their husbands through tough times, raising children and supporting their careers, many of these women didn’t get the carefree life they had once dreamed of.

Once their husbands had money, they started to look down on their wives as frumpy and unpresentable, constantly gaslighting them. And with the kids grown up, the women were expected to stay home and care for the in-laws. A few thousand yuan a month was supposed to cover the entire household’s expenses and buy them a full-time caregiver for the elderly—one who wouldn’t dare mistreat them. What a bargain!

Think husbands without money wouldn’t cause trouble? Think again.

One of the women Hu Qianqian brought into the business had a son who had just graduated and moved to a big city for work. Her in-laws had passed away. By all accounts, she should’ve been enjoying some peace and quiet.

But no. Not long ago, an old friend who worked in insurance quietly approached her and revealed that her stingy husband had secretly taken out several massive life insurance policies on her.

The woman was terrified.

Just a few years ago, a high-profile case in J City had shocked the nation—a man murdered his wife to collect insurance money. They had seemed like a loving middle-aged couple with two capable, filial daughters. So why would the husband kill the wife who had stood by him for over thirty years?

Only after the police cracked the case and revealed the key evidence did the public learn the truth: the man resented his wife for giving him two daughters and no son. He had secretly fathered a son with another woman.

Desperate to fund that son’s study abroad plans, and unable to ask his daughters for money, the man devised a cruel plan. Over six months, he bought several large insurance policies for his wife. Once they took effect, he invited her on a night fishing trip by a reservoir. Under cover of darkness, he pushed her into the water and staged the scene to look like an accidental fall.

His plan was to collect the payout and move abroad with his mistress and their son. Since it would look like he was widowed and not divorced, he wouldn’t have to give his wife a cent.

But he underestimated the insurance company. After surveying the scene, they immediately called the police. The couple’s daughters also refused to accept the “accidental drowning” story. In the end, justice prevailed for the poor woman.

After learning about that case, the woman Hu Qianqian helped was filled with dread. She broke down in tears, clutching Hu Qianqian and the insurance friend who had warned her.

She was lucky. Normally, client information at insurance companies is strictly confidential. But her husband had tried to maximize his gains by having his mistress become an agent and handle the policies herself. The mistress earned a huge commission and, in a moment of arrogance, bragged about it to her friends. Word spread—and eventually reached the wife.

After hearing the full story, Wei Sheng even considered adapting it into a movie.

Thanks to Liang Yi’s guidance, the woman had already begun secretly gathering evidence of her husband’s affair and bigamy, preparing to take him to court and recover the money he had funneled to his mistress.

But fate had its own plans. One night, while scouting a location for their murder scheme, the cheating couple took a wrong turn due to faulty GPS directions. Their car plunged into a massive abandoned mine pit.

The pit was at least several dozen meters deep and filled with water. In the dead of night, in the middle of nowhere, even shouting through a loudspeaker might not have helped. The husband often used “business trips” as an excuse to sneak off with his mistress, and his wife had long stopped trying to track him. Now that she suspected he wanted her dead, she certainly wasn’t going to care where he went.

It wasn’t until days later, when a villager went up the mountain to chop firewood and noticed tire tracks leading to the pit, that the police were called. By then, the bodies of the cheating pair were nowhere to be found.

“That’s the fastest karma I’ve ever seen,” Liang Yi couldn’t help but sigh. “Sometimes, retribution is even more satisfying than the law.”

After her husband and his mistress died together, the woman quickly sold her house, deposited the money in the bank, and decisively moved to Sanchaling with her luggage in tow. There, she joined Hu Qianqian in running their social media business.

Word is, that illegitimate son from the mistress actually went looking for the family later on. He probably thought that, as an out-of-wedlock child, he was still legally entitled to a share of the inheritance. But here’s the problem: to prove he’s the man’s biological son, he’d need to do a paternity test. And where’s the man?

Still at the bottom of the mine. No one knows which tunnel the underground river swept him into. So much time has passed, he might’ve already been picked clean by the fish down there, with nothing left but bones. Want a paternity test? Why don’t you go fish him out yourself?

The police certainly don’t have the ability to recover a body from down there.

Anyway, back to the point. When Hu Qianqian first pulled her old girlfriends together to start a social media venture, her idea was simple: help them make a little money too. Once a woman has money in her hands, it’s not so easy for a man to control her anymore. And if things really don’t work out, then fine, they split up. She could support herself just fine.

But who would’ve thought that a group of middle-aged women—neither young nor conventionally beautiful, only good at sewing, crocheting, and knitting—could come together and turn a livestream channel into such a hit? Their fans affectionately dubbed them the “Cement-Hearted Crew.”

Put it this way: every female follower of their channel, whenever she starts thinking about marriage, will tune into their livestream to hear the aunties share their own stories. By the end of it, well, the thought of getting married is completely gone.

It’s like a real-life version of Housewives Leaving Home.

This time, Hu Qianqian brought her crew to Yuan Stream Township at the strong request of their fans.

It was a perfect coincidence. Because of her son, Hu Qianqian had promoted Housewives Leaving Home multiple times during her livestreams. To boost the ratings of the show her son had invested in, she and her friends would do crafts while watching the show during their weekend streams.

After being recommended the show by Hu Qianqian, her fans started watching too. And the more they watched, the more they realized—wait a minute! Auntie Hu and her friends were the real-life version of Housewives Leaving Home! But unlike the show, where the women just took a temporary break from their families, Auntie Hu and the others were genuinely working hard to earn their own money and break free from the constraints of marriage and men.

So when Hu Qianqian and her team were preparing to shoot new product photos and promotional videos, tons of fans suggested they go to the filming location of the show. One was their favorite influencer, the other their current favorite variety show—what could be better than a dream crossover?

Wei Sheng thought it was a great idea too. He called the TV station to ask. Normally, during filming, the locations are rented exclusively by the station and off-limits to outsiders. But come on—Hu Qianqian was the investor’s mom.

When the God of Wealth comes knocking, the TV station was more than happy to oblige. They agreed right there on the phone.

Wei Sheng had been so busy lately he hadn’t even had time to watch the livestreams. He thought his mom was just bringing a few aunties to shoot a qipao² showcase or something. But the moment those aunties stepped out in full costume, he was completely stunned.

Who says only young girls love wearing hanfu³? Back when The Legend of the White Snake was all the rage, every girl in Hu Qianqian’s generation had a phase where they draped a bedsheet over themselves and pretended to be Bai Suzhen⁴.

Who could’ve imagined that Hu Qianqian and her friends would blend hanfu elements with fashion from the 80s and 90s, and design a whole line of clothes you could actually wear out shopping?

What can you say? The aesthetic of those “big sisters” from back then, even decades later, still holds up.

Most importantly, while the aunties weren’t young or glamorous, they had a certain grace and presence. When they wore those clothes, Wei Sheng didn’t know what others thought, but to him, his mom was being way too modest.

These clothes weren’t just for women of their generation. Wei Sheng was confident that even today’s young women would love them.

At first, Hu Qianqian just wanted to make a little money from her peers. Besides their short video followers, they also formed several local groups through their square dancing circles⁵. The idea was, if online sales didn’t go well, they could always take local custom orders and not lose out.

But to their surprise, once the video went live, the ready-made clothes linked in their shop sold out in just a few days! New fans who missed the first round were flooding the comments, begging Mama Hu to restock as soon as possible.

The aunties were over the moon.

Truth be told, the first batch of orders didn’t bring in much profit. Hu Qianqian never had grand ambitions of doing luxury custom fashion. Her goal was simple: make pretty clothes that ordinary women and aunties could actually afford, while earning a little income for herself and her friends.

But who knew? They started with a few hundred pieces, and demand just kept growing. Eventually, Hu Qianqian had to partner with a clothing factory for mass production. She thought scaling up would mean raising prices, but thanks to lower production costs, the prices actually dropped a little.

Who does business like this?

This reverse price drop from an influencer shop left fans completely stunned.

But even the early buyers didn’t feel cheated. In fact, they felt like they’d scored a deal. The reason was simple: the new batch might be cheaper, but it was factory-made. They, on the other hand, had paid just a bit more and gotten the original, hand-sewn pieces made by the aunties themselves. Heh.

Wei Sheng was floored. He never imagined that his mom’s little hobby project would grow into something that looked like it might need its own factory soon.

What shocked him even more was that, because every member of this entrepreneurial team had her own story, their account ended up getting invited to appear on a women’s talk show on National TV Station!

“I’m going to be on National TV Station too?” Hu Qianqian could hardly believe her ears.

(End of Chapter)

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Translator’s Notes

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1. Empress Dowager: Empress Dowager is a title for the mother of an emperor in imperial China, often evoking powerful figures like Cixi; here, it’s used humorously to refer to Wei Sheng’s influential mother. ↩
2. qipao: Qipao, also known as cheongsam, is a elegant, form-fitting dress with a high collar and side slits, originating from 1920s Shanghai and symbolizing modern Chinese femininity. ↩
3. hanfu: Hanfu is the traditional style of clothing worn by the Han Chinese people, featuring flowing robes and has experienced a modern revival in fashion, cosplay, and cultural events. ↩
4. Bai Suzhen: Bai Suzhen is the central character in the classic Chinese folktale ‘The Legend of the White Snake,’ a benevolent white snake demon who takes human form to marry and face trials of love and immortality. ↩
5. square dancing circles: Square dancing is a widespread communal exercise in China, where groups—typically middle-aged and elderly women—perform synchronized dances to loud music in public squares or parks, fostering social bonds. ↩