What no one expected was that he would resolutely announce the temporary closure of Yonghui Supermarket to plunge into a sudden renovation project. He was ignoring the gold mine right in front of him and pushing it away.

After much consideration, Si Shufen could only come to one conclusion. Xue Yang has a business mind but lacks practical experience. He’s letting a golden opportunity slip away by failing to properly capitalize on it. In plain terms, he hadn’t truly faced the harsh realities of the world yet. He thought that just because he’d made some money, he could look down on smaller profits.

Little did he know, all the other supermarkets in Yancheng were now reaping the benefits of the city-wide promotions. Armed with meticulously planned events, retailers not only cleared their long-standing inventory but also quickly recouped their funds. Some even seized the opportunity to reel in considerable profits.

Now, everyone was secretly laughing behind Xue Yang’s back, calling him a fool for not taking the money. But luckily for them, he had closed his supermarket. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to enjoy so many of these benefits. Though he was a fool, they still had to thank him. If he hadn’t cleared out space in the market, the others wouldn’t have been able to fully capitalize on the sales. Who knew when their excess stock would have been sold otherwise?

Thanks to these promotions, consumers were enjoying a shopping spree like never before. The current situation could be described as overwhelmingly positive. However, some paths, once taken, are very difficult to turn back from. For example, if you first buy an egg for one dollar, but later it’s discounted to fifty cents, or even less, would you ever want to go back to buying it for the original price?

Soon enough, some supermarkets began to feel the strain. They couldn’t keep running promotions forever. With constant sales, you only make less and less money. Making a little less occasionally was fine, but constantly earning less was unacceptable. However, if they stopped the promotions, the number of customers would drop. Once foot traffic decreased, sales would plummet.

What began as praise for Xue Yang turned into curses behind his back. If he hadn’t ruined the market, would things be this difficult? What a menace! Did he know this would happen? Did he do this on purpose to mess with all of us?!

Speaking of which, once Si Shufen learned that Xue Xing was Xue Yang’s younger brother, she stopped entertaining any fantasies about him. What a joke. If Xue Yang came knocking on her door, how could she possibly explain herself? If it were only about Xue Yang, she could have claimed that since the younger brother wasn’t an option, she moved on to the older one. But Xue Yang is the young lady’s fiancé. She wouldn’t dare do such a thing, not even if she had ten times the courage.

Seeing her aunt’s expression, Si Wen knew she had come to her senses and couldn’t help but let out a silent sigh of relief.

Just then, Xue Xing finished getting dressed and put on his shoes. He walked over to Si Wen, scratched his head, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Um... Sister Si Wen, since your family is here, I’ll head back first."

Si Wen looked up at him. Xue Xing immediately lowered his head, not daring to meet her eyes. He nervously fiddled with the hem of his shirt, like a child awaiting judgment.

Si Wen glanced at him before looking away, saying indifferently, "They’ll be leaving soon."

Hearing this, a woman in her early forties standing next to Si Shufen stepped forward, about to speak, but Si Shufen pulled her back. She smiled at Xue Xing and said, "That’s right, we’re all pretty busy. We just came to check on Xiao Wen and have to get back to work. Young man, since you’re already here, could you do your auntie a favor and take care of Si Wen for a bit longer, please?"

Xue Xing’s eyes widened in surprise. He lifted his head and looked at Si Wen’s family—there were at least five or six people there. He had thought at least one of them would stay behind to take care of Sister Si Wen. To his disbelief, not a single one was willing to stay. Her family really doesn’t seem to care about her at all. What kind of life must she lead at home? She must be feeling terrible right now, right?

Facing Si Wen with his back to her family, Xue Xing said indignantly, "Then you all can go back to work. I will take good care of Sister Si Wen." Since they didn’t treat Sister Si Wen like family, he felt no need to be polite to them either.

Si Shufen found Xue Xing’s indignant expression amusing, but she didn’t say anything. She gave Si Wen a subtle wink and led everyone out of the room.

Once they left, the previously noisy hospital ward suddenly fell quiet. It was only then that Xue Xing belatedly realized what he had done. My reaction... it was a bit much. Will Sister Si Wen blame me? And her family... will they make things difficult for her later? Xue Xing’s mind was in turmoil. He genuinely regretted being so impulsive. I should have spoken to them nicely and asked them to leave one person to take care of her. But now, it’s too late to say anything. I’ve offended them all.

Si Wen had been observing Xue Xing’s reactions the whole time. Watching him frown and make faces was simply too amusing. She could roughly guess what he was thinking. Such a naive and gullible boy.

After wrestling with his thoughts for a while, Xue Xing seemed to finally muster his courage. He lifted his head and said to Si Wen, "Sister Si Wen... I’m the one who drove them away. If they’re going to blame someone, let them blame me. It has nothing to do with you." After speaking, he quickly lowered his head again, as if waiting for a scolding.

Si Wen’s lips curved into a slight smile, and she fought the urge to laugh out loud. She replied coolly, "Mm. You’re right, this is your fault."

"Sister Si Wen, don’t worry," Xue Xing said earnestly. "I said I’d take care of you, and I will. When your family calls, I’ll apologize to them. I won’t let it make things difficult for you."

Si Wen leaned back against the hospital bed and asked with interest, "So, how do you plan to take care of me?"

"Huh?" The question caught Xue Xing completely off guard. He thought for a moment, recalling scenes from TV shows he had watched as a child. Then he said, "I’ll peel some fruit for you."

Conveniently, the people who had just left had brought several baskets of fresh fruit. True to his word, Xue Xing immediately grabbed the nearest basket. He unwrapped it and picked out a beautiful apple. As expected from a fruit basket that looked so upscale, the fruit inside was clearly expensive—the kind of apple Xue Xing wouldn’t even glance at in a regular fruit shop.

Seeing him sit down and start peeling the apple, Si Wen finally spoke again.

"Xue Xing!"

Hearing his name, Xue Xing hurriedly put down the apple and walked over, asking anxiously, "Sister Si Wen, what’s wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"I just wanted to ask what time it is."

Xue Xing paused, then pulled out his phone and glanced at it. "It’s 11:45 AM..."

He seemed to realize something.