Chapter 31: Don't Forget Us About Art

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ning Jia inexplicably became nervous. She wiped the sweat from her face and dusted off the stall before bending down to open the large cardboard box on the ground and taking out...

Standing at the very front of the crowd, in the center position, was naturally the middle-aged female guest. As the gasps around her rose, her calm eyes suddenly trembled, as if she could not believe it, or as if she was greatly surprised.

"Oh my god!" "Holy crap!" "Absolutely amazing!" "So beautiful, so beautiful!" "My God!" "My God!"...

At this moment, the onlookers were caught off guard and captivated by the beauty before them, and a barrage of praises poured out.

Seeing that someone was already reaching out to touch the straw mat, Ning Jia quickly stopped them, "Excuse me, this straw mat has already been reserved by this lady."

The crowd's attention immediately focused on the middle-aged woman, who, who had been staring at the straw mat without speaking, finally let out a sigh of relief and solemnly said to Ning Jia:

"Girl, I'll take this straw mat."

After she finished speaking, she took out her phone to scan the payment code next to her. After finding that she could not pay, she scanned Ning Jia's WeChat QR code and said, "Zhou Weiran, please accept my friend request."

Ning Jia thought the sales target had been exceeded again, so she approved the request. A few seconds later, she was astonished to see the 4,800 yuan transferred by Zhou Weiran.

"What is this...?"

She priced the floral mat at 500 yuan. The customer paid a 200 yuan deposit this morning, and now only 300 yuan is due. How did it end up costing so much?

Could it be because of what she said before? Uh, she thought it was just a joke.

Seeing that Ning Jia wouldn't accept the money, the lady smiled and said, "A bet is a bet. Your straw mat completely exceeded my expectations. Even ten times the price is too little."

After saying that, she transferred another 10,000 yuan. "Artworks are priceless treasures. Only when they are priced high can buyers cherish them. If you want this straw mat to be properly preserved, then accept this money."

"Besides, this amount of money isn't much to buy such a perfectly natural creation."

Ning Jia was still in shock, but she also had a vague feeling that this woman named Zhou Weiran was no ordinary person, and what the woman said had completely hit the nail on the head:

Yes, in her eyes, the straw mat that the little people had painstakingly made was indeed priceless.

But the price of a straw mat has gone from 500 to over 10,000, directly raising the average price at the handmade market, which makes her feel a little guilty.

Regardless of Ning Jia's thoughts, Zhou Weiran had his assistant remove the straw mat and then solemnly handed Ning Jia a business card, saying, "Teacher Ning, if you have any more works like this for sale in the future, please contact me first."

As the two walked away, the surrounding crowd gathered around and curiously asked Ning Jia how much the customer had given them.

Ning Jia quickly locked her phone, gave a few vague words, and seeing there was nothing more to hear, the crowd slowly dispersed. The market manager gave Ning Jia a complicated look, then turned and left.

At this moment, Ning Jia also recovered from her shock, reopened her phone, and quickly accepted both transfers.

After receiving the money, she took out the business card from earlier. The card had a very simple layout, with just one line of basic personal information:

"Art collector Zhou Weiran?"

The less personal information on a business card, the more astonishing one's wealth and status might be. Ning Jia pondered, it seems the other person really might be a big shot in the art world.

Thank you so much for the generous gift! My stall income increased by 15,000 today, which is wonderful news.

But this time, Ning Jia felt too embarrassed to take a cut, so she decided to deposit the money into the Lilliputian's account.

The Dragon Boat Festival handicraft market soon came to an end, and the little people returned to their carefree lives.

As for Ning Jia, she calculated her earnings from this stall. Even after deducting the 15,000 yuan contributed by the philanthropist, she still made a net profit of over 8,000 yuan. Her personal account also increased by nearly 3,000 yuan. It has to be said that if you can participate in these kinds of stall activities from time to time, it can really make a lot of money.

Although she made money from setting up a stall, Ning Jia didn't plan to rest for the remaining two days of the holiday.

Customers who had previously bought the zongzi sachets from her stall reported that they were very effective at boosting energy, and some even planned to repurchase. However, this was only a minority. To increase sales of the energy sachets, she needed to take a proactive approach.

So, that morning, Ning Jia carried a large bag of zongzi sachets and rode her electric bike to many places, mainly near study rooms and libraries, to promote them, but after half a day, the results were minimal.

You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub.

Ning Jia gritted her teeth and went to the owner of a study room, saying she wanted to give free zongzi sachets to the study room's customers. Seeing that the owner wasn't very interested, she also gave him two flower wreath bracelets as a bonus, and finally persuaded him to keep her zongzi sachets.

However, the owner said, "My study room is self-service, so I can't actively promote it to you. I can only put it at the entrance for customers to take themselves."

"That works fine, thank you so much!"

Ning Jia was already very satisfied with the result. Seeing that the shop owner loved the flower wreath bracelet, she added, "If your customers come to my shop to buy sachets in the future, I will give you a few flower wreath rings as a gift. They are also very beautiful."

Upon hearing this, the shop owner indeed became serious. "You said it yourself, so I'll write a promotional slogan for your sachets and stick it on later."

"Wow, thank you so much!"

After securing one study room, Ning Jia followed the same method and found several more study rooms in the vicinity. In one day, nearly a hundred free zongzi sachets and more than a dozen flower garlands and jewelry were given away. The cost made Ning Jia feel very distressed, so she quickly took on a part-time writing job to try to earn some money back, which made her feel much better.

Not long after the short holiday ended, the day for Ning Jia to officially leave the company arrived.

She didn't have many personal belongings to begin with, and after being laid off, she brought things home every day. Her desk was almost empty except for her company computer, tissues, and water cup. Before leaving, she didn't even need a cardboard box; she simply carried her bag and prepared to leave with ease and grace.

Surprisingly, her colleagues, who rarely ate, drank, or had fun with her, all gave her farewell gifts.

"Jiajia, if you become rich and powerful, don't forget us. Don't forget us when you're successful."

"Exactly! Someone as talented as you can find a good job anywhere. Remember to take me with you when you become successful!"

"Waaah, Jiajia, you helped me prepare the materials before, and I haven't even treated you to a meal yet, and you're leaving already."

"Even someone like Ning Jia has been laid off, while some people who only know how to flatter their superiors are still slacking off and are doomed..."

Colleagues reminisced about Ning Jia's kindness, and the girl in her group was overcome with grief, saying, "Jiajia, what will I do without you?!"

Although Ning Jia doesn't usually drink milk tea or participate in eating and drinking with colleagues, she is efficient at work, doesn't procrastinate, and is easy to communicate with, making it very worry-free to work with her.

The girl became more and more heartbroken. None of her family members understood. Losing her perfect work partner was even more terrible than a breakup!

Faced with the warm farewell from her colleagues, Ning Jia couldn't help but feel touched. After thanking them one by one and saying goodbye, she still carried the large cardboard box that was a must-have for resigning, but this time it was filled with farewell gifts from her colleagues.

This heavy gift made Ning Jia feel a little sad. After all, it was a company where she had worked for several years, and even the Pomeranian raised by the receptionist had become familiar with her. It was really hard to leave.

As Ning Jia was about to walk out of the company gate with a large cardboard box in her arms, her colleagues were still saying goodbye with reluctance, "Jiajia, don't forget us!"

Faced with this scene, Ning Jia was also somewhat moved, "No, no, I will always remember the days I worked with everyone!"

In her excitement, a colleague blurted out, "Jiajia, even though you're gone, you must continue selling our sachets!"

Ning Jia's emotion came to an abrupt end: ? ? ?

The atmosphere became a little awkward for a moment, but seeing this, the other colleagues stopped pretending and chimed in, "Yes, yes, you must keep selling the sachets!" "Jiajia, don't forget to sell them to us first!" "If it's inconvenient for you, we can pick them up ourselves!"...

Well, Ning Jia was speechless. She thought to herself, "We're just colleagues, nothing special. Why are we acting like colleagues today? Turns out, she came for my sachet."

When Ning Jia returned home carrying the large cardboard box, her heart filled with mixed emotions, she immediately and eagerly opened it, unwrapping each gift...

When she opened the package and saw the "Company Break Room Snacks Compilation," company sticky notes and pens, company potted plants, company disinfectant wipes... even company toilet paper, company garbage bags, and company A4 paper, she was speechless, then chuckled:

She was right, how come her colleagues, no, her former colleagues, were suddenly so generous!

However, these gifts were indeed very practical. Ning Jia kept this favor in mind and decided to save a precious set of the sleep-aid sachets, which had already been produced in much smaller quantities, for her lovely former colleagues.

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Author's Note: I will no longer reply to each and every comment from you lovely readers, so I'll just write it here:

Thank you to all the lovely readers who favorited, read, and supported this article! [kiss][kiss]

I hope this post, like the little joys in life, brings you happiness and healing~~ [heart][heart]