Chapter 1419


    “Alright, sweetie. I’ll have a word with your teacher soon,” Michael promised.


    To Carmen, the first grader’s tests were too easy. Usually when Linus tutored her at home, he would be


    teaching her high school and college-level math knowledge, which she had no difficulty in


    understanding. Perhaps, they could let her skip a grade.


    As a first grader in elementary school, Carmen started to develop a sense of awareness and was no


    longer a baby who sat around and did nothing. Back in kindergarten, she was already selling pet dogs


    and her father’s autograph even though it was only a small-scale business that operated offline.


    Granted, it was a no-cost business, but sales were slow and it carried high risks. Now that she was in


    elementary school, her horizons had widened and she began to learn the basics of the inte from


    her Uncle Linus. As such, she opened up her own online store that sold her father’s autographed


    posters, and merchandise made of the fur that the family pets had shed.


    She operated the online store all by herself—she was the manager as well as the customer service


    officer. Meanwhile, the shipping of the sold goods was assigned to Hale. Recently, she had been


    gathering her pets’ fur and had them made into pillows and keychain charms by Nichs to be sold on


    her online store. In fact, it was being sold at a rather high price—a pillow would cost about a hundred.


    With the help of Linus, she also modified Nichs’s program and added an extra function of


    embroidery and sewing. Since then, Nichs had been working overtime for Carmen and doing odd


    jobs for her every day.


    Meanwhile, a national children’s operapetition was alsoing up, and the winner would walk


    away with a prize of 500,000. She signed up for it enthusiastically and was aiming to win first ce.


    Looking at Carmen’s achievements so far, Michael was content and proud. With the way things were


    going, he would have nothing to worry about. Even if she didn’t have a father, Carmen would still growN?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.


    up healthy and happy. She was a business-minded child who would grow up to have a career and


    great aplishments of her own, just like her grandfather, uncle, and mother.


    When they arrived home, Michael held Carmen’s hand and spoke in a firm manner, “Carmen, you’re a


    big girl attending elementary school now. You’ll have to leave Mommy and Daddy to live on your own in


    the future, so you have to learn to be independent, okay?”


    Nodding confidently, Carmen assured, “Don’t worry, Daddy. I can take care of myself now.”


    After arriving home, Carmen ate andpleted her homework before she started to work. She wore a


    face mask and a pair of pet deshedding gloves to collect the fur of their pet cats, dogs, and alpacas.


    She also plucked the feathers from the rooster’s tail to make shuttlecocks. Meanwhile, Maria


    disinfected the fur and feathers before passing them to Nichs to work on.


    Furthermore, the ‘double eleven’ shopping festival was just around the corner, and there would be a


    promotion at the store. As such, Carmen’s schedule was expected to be full for theing period. She


    took her job seriously and worked overtime. Recently, her little store received too many orders, and she


    was being put to the test. As such, she hired many tiny workers of her age. As soon as school was


    over, Poppy and Hope woulde over from next door to work.


    Meanwhile, a stack of posters was ced before Michael, who was carefully signing them with a pen.


    He strived to help Carmen in increasing sales and inventory. In fact, his signed posters were a hit, and


    the demands werergely exceeding the supply. At that point, Carmen’s illegal home-based workshop


    was fully equipped and staffed.


    Soon, Sophia also returned from work. JNS Group was also in the midst of preparing for the ‘double


    eleven’ shopping festival, so she had been busy with work untilte at night recently. Even when she


    came home, she would be working for Carmen at her illegal workshop.


    As a matter of fact, everyone in the family was supportive of Carmen’s first ever business. Even


    Cooper who had fled would often call to encourage her to be persistent in her business. On top of that,


    the entire family was happy to provide her with whatever resources she needed.


    With plenty of encouragement, Carmen was full of confidence and worked even harder to the point


    where the family pets were going to be bald soon.


    Fortunately, they had many pets at home, so they could afford to be deshedded to this extent. After the


    fur was collected and disinfected, Sophia would wear a face mask and a pair of gloves to stuff the fur


    into pillows and keychain charms before sending them to Nichs for sewing works. Then, the items


    would be disinfected again and marked with the storebel before being sold.


    After signing a hundred posters and a hundred addressed postcards, Michael woulde to help as


    well. The family of three were busy making little keychain charms and pillows while they discussed


    bringing home the dogs that were being kept at the Edwards residence at Riverdale for Carmen to


    collect their fur as raw material.


    After the ‘double eleven’ shopping festival, new year’s was around the corner. This year, they would be


    making more cured meat to be sold on the online store. At the same time, Carmen could also learn to


    make cured meat and carry on the Johnson family recipe.


    Sophia picked up a model of the keychain charms. All of them were designed by Carmen and sent to


    JNS Group to be produced by a specialist. After the items were delivered to them, they only had to stuff


    it with fur and sew them shut toplete them. The keychain charms were sold in aplete set as


    well as in separate units. The designs were dog figures, baby girl figures, and even parent figures. The


    whole set would be figures of a happy family of three, with a bunch of cats, dogs, alpacas, and rooster


    figures.


    At that moment, Sophia had made a whole set of keychain charms. She had stitched them and was


    going to keep them for herself.


    “This is for Daddy, this is for Mommy, and this is for you…” As Sophia spoke, she put the little keychain


    charms on her and Michael’s sets of keys, while Carmen’s was hooked onto her backpack. When she


    was done, she smiled with content. “There, the three of us will always be together.” At which Michael


    smiled but rather ruefully.


    Carmen had also made a baby boy charm and brought it to Sophia before saying sternly, “Mommy,


    look. Doesn’t this look like the baby brother you promised to give me, but didn’t?” She needed a lot


    more child workers at her illegal shop, and a little brother or sister would be able to help her in


    managing her little business.


    Amused, Michael reached out and patted the top of her head with a smile while he subconsciously


    nced at Sophia’s belly. Their second child seemed to be out of their reach now. Truthfully, he didn’t


    want his child to be born without a father.


    Michael clutched the keychain charm that Sophia made for him, on which her smell and warmth


    seemed to have lingered. Meanwhile, Sophia had started to make a baby boy charm and put together a


    family of four.


    While doing so, she was thinking that she would begin to prepare for IVF once JNS Group became


    stable. She didn’t mind the pain as she would be able to tolerate it. In fact, she had been through


    surgeries before and had been pricked by countless needles, and even her face had been


    reconstructed entirely. Now, the pain that came with IVF seemed insignificant. She wanted to give birth


    naturally!


    Soon, the baby boy charm was done and Sophia hung it on Michael’s shirt. Staring at the charm, he felt


    infinitely heartbroken.


    Out of the blue, the door opened and Tiffany came into the workshop. Perplexed, she asked, “What are


    you doing? Do you need help?”


    At once, Sophia hastily put everything away and grunted coldly, “No.”


    Then, Carmen added, “Miss Tiffany, you’re toote. We’re all wrapped up for the day.”


    Tiffany had been wanting to join their illegal workshop as well and be assigned a task in hopes of


    strengthening their rtionship. However, she did not pass the interview with Carmen. She wasn’t


    epted because she was too old to be able to adapt to the intensity of the workload. However, the


    marketing tasks were outsourced to her.


    Just then, Tiffany backed away sensibly, while Carmen pondered as she watched her departure.


    When Michael went to pick Carmen up the next day, she said with seriousness, “Daddy, we need to


    make a stop. I have a business meeting with someone.”


    Puzzled, Michael wanted to see who Carmen was meeting, so he sent her to a nearby café where they


    had agreed to meet. Upon arriving, Michael spotted the green-eyed goblin he despised—Bailey


    Adams.


    Looking up from the documents, Bailey peered at Carmen in wonder. “You mentioned on the phone


    that… you wanted to insure your online store?”