It could be said that Yi Anguo selflessly imparted all his knowledge and experience with redwood, even offering hands-on teaching. Although Yi Xiaolin and Yi Xiaoman did not have high levels of education, they were both very smart and quick-witted, so they benefited greatly.

Yi Xiaolin, in particular, had a wealth of social experience. He had traveled to Yunnan and Guizhou, worked as a cattle trader, run a distillery at home, slaughtered cattle, and sold beef. In his youth, he had been the village bully; fighting and petty thievery, like stealing chickens and dogs, were commonplace for him. Anyone thinking of bullying him had to first consider if they were brave enough and strong enough to take him on.

This was the main reason Yi Anguo was willing to bring Yi Xiaolin into the business world with him. Yi Xiaoman's personality was too honest, making him easy prey for bullies. Yi Anguo couldn't rest easy sending him out to procure lumber.

With Yi Xiaolin traveling around, however, Yi Anguo had no need to worry about his safety. Even if someone pulled a knife on him, he had the strength to fight back. Furthermore, Yi Xiaolin was tall and lean, standing over 1.8 meters tall, and he didn't look like someone who could be easily bullied. He was also articulate and knew how to talk his way through situations—the kind of person who wouldn't be easily taken advantage of.

He knew when to be honest and when to be ruthless. If pushed to the absolute limit, he wouldn't hesitate to kill. However, unless it was absolutely necessary, he wouldn't actually harm anyone, let alone kill. Despite his toughness, he wasn't ignorant of the law. He would only retaliate if his own life was in danger. There was no way he would let himself be slaughtered without a fight.

Truckload after truckload of redwood was transported to the newly purchased factory. Since the wood was intended for long-term storage, it couldn't be left in the open air and was instead stacked inside the workshops.

Particularly valuable woods like Hainan Huanghuali, Vietnamese rosewood, and small-leaf red sandalwood required separate storage in a locked warehouse. Hainan Huanghuali cost several thousand yuan per kilogram and would be worth tens of thousands in the future. If even a single piece was stolen, the loss would be immense. Therefore, it wasn't enough to just lock it up in a warehouse under strict care; they also needed to install surveillance cameras and have security guards patrolling the factory grounds.

Yi Xiaolin and Yi Xiaoman moved into the factory complex to live. Yi Anguo also hired a former colleague to help him manage the factory and get the redwood furniture business up and running.

He purchased a complete set of the most advanced woodworking machinery available at the time. Skilled carpenters were hired to first create prototypes and then move on to mass production. The primary materials were Burmese Padauk and Cocobolo, though other types of redwood were used in smaller quantities. Whether the furniture would sell well was a separate issue. The plan was simply to produce a batch first and see what happened.

If it sold well, they would sell it. If it didn't, it was no big deal—they could just hold onto it and sell it later. After all, Yi Anguo's main goal wasn't to produce vast quantities of furniture for sale. Making a profit from selling it would simply be a bonus. If it really didn't sell and they couldn't make money, they would just reduce furniture production and sell the raw timber in the future, which would be profitable either way.

For instance, the so-called African Hedgehog Rosewood, also known as African Rosewood, was extremely cheap at the time, costing only a little over a thousand yuan per ton. In the future, the price of this very common, even low-end, raw material for affordable redwood furniture would soar to seven to eight thousand yuan per ton, a four-to-five-fold increase. In reality, as long as they could sell the finished furniture, they were guaranteed to make a profit.

「On August 1st, the Anjing Online Supermarket officially launched in Guangzhou, covering the entire city from day one.」

The pre-launch advertising and promotion had been executed perfectly, far more thoroughly than the preparations before the Shenzhen launch. After all, they had accumulated three months of valuable experience since going live in Shenzhen. Before the Guangzhou launch, there was already a lot of buzz on the internet, with discussions about Anjing Online Supermarket, introductions to its services, and many testimonials shared by shoppers in Shenzhen.

The people of Guangzhou had been eagerly anticipating the launch, rubbing their hands together in excitement to be the first to try it. As a result, on its first day of official operation in Guangzhou, the transaction volume reached a staggering 90,000 yuan, three times that of Shenzhen's first day. On the second day, the transaction amount broke through 120,000 yuan. Half a month after the launch, the combined daily transaction volume for Guangzhou and Shenzhen exceeded 400,000 yuan.

「On August 18th, Hu Jing successfully gave birth to a set of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, via cesarean section at Harbor Island Hospital. Both mother and children were safe and sound.」

The older one was the son, named Yi Yunlong, and the younger one was the daughter, named Yi Yufeng. Hu Jing was extremely pleased with her children's names. Looking at her son and daughter, her face was filled with a blissful smile, feeling that all her past hardships had been worth it.

Yi Anguo was overjoyed to see his new son and daughter, and he knew that two more of his children would be born in the near future. For a moment, he felt the weight of his responsibility as a father grow even heavier on his shoulders.

Seeing her sister give birth to twins for her brother-in-law, Hu Qian was overcome with envy.

"Brother-in-law! My sister gave you a boy and a girl. Have you gotten her a gift yet?" Hu Qian asked.

"Your sister gave me twins, so what gift should I give her?" Yi Anguo asked with a smile. The question hadn't really occurred to him. Now that Hu Qian brought it up, he was at a loss for what to get Hu Jing.

"Don't listen to Qian's nonsense," Hu Jing said with a gentle smile. "Yunlong and Yufeng are the best gifts you could ever give me. I don't need anything else."

Yi Anguo thought for a moment, then leaned over and kissed Hu Jing on the forehead. "Thank you," he said tenderly. "You've worked so hard. I will always love you."

Hu Jing looked at Yi Anguo, her eyes filled with deep affection. "Meeting you is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me. Hearing you say that is enough to make me content for the rest of my life."

Yi Anguo stayed with Hu Jing for a while before going to have the nanny bring in the nutritional supplements prepared for her recovery.

Watching Yi Anguo leave, Hu Qian couldn't help but say to her sister, "Sister, I'm so envious of you. You have such a wonderful man who loves you, a set of twins, and a company. You truly have everything now, with nothing missing."

Hu Jing smiled happily. "After you graduate from university, you'll have your own career, love, family, and children too."

"Sister! A man like my brother-in-law is a rare find," Hu Qian said. "There's no way I'll be as lucky as you and meet someone even better."

For a moment, Hu Jing didn't know how to console her younger sister. She wasn't oblivious; she had sensed that her sister's feelings for Yi Anguo were somewhat unusual, extending beyond the typical affection for a brother-in-law. But Hu Jing didn't know how to handle the situation, so she had always pretended not to notice. Besides, she had observed that Yi Anguo and her sister hadn't done anything inappropriate, so she was reluctant to bring it up and make everyone feel awkward.

Yi Anguo soon returned carrying two thermoses, dissolving the tense atmosphere.

"Here, try this black chicken soup," Yi Anguo said with a smile. "It's made with Angelica, Korean ginseng, red dates, and goji berries. It's great for replenishing qi and blood, it's nutritious, and it's delicious! The chicken is amazing too—absolutely authentic Taihe black chicken."

The moment the thermos was opened, a rich fragrance filled the air. It was a mouthwatering blend of savory chicken and aromatic Chinese herbs.

"Brother-in-law! That smells incredible! It must taste delicious! I want some too!" Hu Qian said, her expression blissful as she inhaled the scent.

"This is to help new mothers recover and replenish their qi and blood," Yi Anguo said with a smile. "It wouldn't be good for you."

The brew was extremely potent. A healthy man might get a nosebleed from it, and it wasn't suitable for young women, especially during their period, as it could cause an excessively heavy flow.

"Stingy! If you don't want to share, just say so. Don't make up excuses about it not being good for me!" Hu Qian pouted.

"It's just for restoring the body, isn't it? If it can help a new mother recover, why can't a healthy person drink it to get stronger?" Hu Qian was clearly skeptical.

"I have no reason to lie to you," Yi Anguo could only say helplessly. "If you really want to try some, go ahead. But don't come complaining to me if there are any side effects."

He couldn't just flat-out refuse her; that would make him seem genuinely stingy.

"What kind of bad side effects could Qian have from eating it?" Hu Jing had also thought Yi Anguo was just teasing her sister with alarmist jokes and that it was actually fine. But seeing his serious expression, she grew curious and couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing major," Yi Anguo said with a chuckle. "It's just that when she gets her period, the flow might be a bit heavy, that's all."

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