Chapter 40

Chen Lanjun planned to wait for her elder sister for a week.

Hong Kong is just across the river. If you really want to come, a week is enough. If you don't come, it means you don't want to come.

She didn't force it.

For convenience, Chen Lanjun planned to stay in a guesthouse in the city for a few days.

At that time, there were only a few guesthouses in Pengcheng City, and the one closest to Guankou Railway Station was the Second Guesthouse.

After resting for a night at Ajing's house, she packed important things such as the letter of introduction and waited for the tractor to enter the city.

Auntie Ajing went to inquire about it and found out that the brigade had a tractor going to the city in the morning and asked for help to take it with them. When Ajing's cousin heard about it, he also wanted to go to the city to play.

So we waited together at the intersection of the village. When the tractor came over with a clang, it took in four people and its tires were flattened.

The tractor driver's mouth seemed to be pressed down by the weight, and it was always tilted downwards. Only after Ah Jing gave him half a bag of grapes did his expression look a little better.

"You bought it in the city? Your family is really wealthy."

"My sister Alan bought it." Ajing explained.

The tractor driver glanced at Chen Lanjun casually, not paying much attention, and continued to talk to his more familiar cousin, Ajing: "Last time your family said they wanted to bring people to the village to set up a factory. Did you get the news?"

"I haven't heard any new news."

"oh."

Ah Jing interrupted, "My sister Alan's mother is the director of the furniture factory in their village!"

This time the tractor driver looked at Chen Lanjun seriously and said, "When you have time, you can tell us about your experience."

"Of course." Chen Lanjun smiled, "In fact, your village is in a better location than ours. As long as the time is right, it will definitely develop greatly."

"Well, I hope it's sooner. Something big happened in the city last year, and it made quite a stir. In a remote village like ours, we have no idea what's going on over there."

Chen Lanjun was not surprised. Not to mention that the tractor driver, a villager, did not realize what a huge change had taken place at this moment, even some old cadres did not quite understand what was going on here. Of course, this might be the effect they wanted, to get things done before the opposing opinions became clear.

Riding on a tractor, we gradually rushed from the fields to the cement road. When we encountered mud on the road, Chen Lanjun and her friends got off the tractor to help push the mud. By the time we got to the city, we were truly "mud-legged people". There were spots of mud on our shoes.

As they walked towards the guesthouse, several well-dressed people passing by cast their eyes at them. Cousin Jing was a little embarrassed and just lowered his head. Chen Lanjun ignored these glances and just wiped the mud off her shoes before entering the lobby of the guesthouse to make sure she would not make the floor dirty before entering.

A guest happened to be checking out.

Chen Lanjun waited quietly, and took a look around the guesthouse. It didn't look like the grand hotel she had imagined. It was just a plain green half wall with a portrait of the leader hanging on it, just like any other guesthouse in a county town.

After the previous guest finished checking out, Chen Lanjun walked forward politely.

"Hello, I would like a room, here is my letter of introduction."

The receptionist at the guesthouse frowned when he saw Chen Lanjun's clothes. Then he opened her letter of introduction and found out it was from a village outside the province, so he raised his chin.

"There are no rooms left. Besides, the room rate here is one dollar a day. You'd better stay overnight in the countryside."

As she spoke, the receptionist pushed the letter of introduction toward Chen Lanjun.

The faint smile on Chen Lanjun's face did not change. She pressed the letter of introduction with her slender and beautiful fingers and calmly pushed it back to the front desk.

"Hello, I need a room."

The front desk clerk's face suddenly turned ugly, and his voice became sharp: "Hey, you don't understand me, right? There are no rooms left!"

"The guest just checked out." Chen Lanjun said calmly.

The more the receptionist saw her like this, the more annoyed she became: "No more, that's it!"

"Really?" Chen Lanjun looked back and said, "In that case, I will wait at the door, following Lei Feng's good example, and explain to all the guests who came at such an unfortunate time that there are no rooms."

"It just so happens that my English is pretty good, so even if there are any foreign guests coming, I can explain, 'Sorry, they don't have any room available now'"

…

The front desk clerk checked Chen Lanjun in with a grim face.

In the corridor further inside, Shao Qinghe, wearing large sunglasses, raised his lips slightly and walked past Chen Lanjun and others.

The escort who was waiting outside came forward and said, "Mr. Shao, is there anything I can do for you? The room has been checked out."

"Nothing, just a fun one," Shao Qinghe restrained his smile, "In the future, when we are in the hotel in Suicheng, we must pay attention to training the waiters well, and we must not do anything low-level that annoys the guests."

"clear."

Inside the guest house.

After the door closed, Ajing's cousin started laughing: "Did you see the look on that guy's face? Haha, it was so funny. When he heard Sister Lan speak English, his face suddenly became grim."

Zhao Hong also laughed: "That's right, we want him to look down on others."

Chen Lanjun smiled and shook her head: "That person is quite smart and knows how to maintain his dignity. If he had met a really stupid person, he would have ignored everything and made a big fuss, which would have been a headache. Forget it, as long as he can stay here."

However, this also reminded her of one thing. At this stage, one still has to be particular about it.

Chen Lanjun asked Ajing's cousin: "Where did you buy that floral shirt you wore before? Take us to see it."

*** ***

After walking around for a long time, they came to a private house. Ajing's cousin turned around and said, "This is it."

When I entered the room, I saw a middle-aged woman sitting on a rattan chair in the dim light. There were many clothes piled beside her. When she saw Ajing's cousin coming, she let him choose whatever he wanted.

Chen Lanjun flipped through a few pieces and had a rough idea of ​​what was going on. These were all clothes from Hong Kong, mostly second-hand, with a few being crudely made in factories.

The advantage is that the style is novel and the price is low, which is more than half cheaper than what is sold in stores now.

Zhao Hongyi took a flowered shirt and tried it on himself, asking, "Is this cool?"

Jing's cousin grinned, "Yeah, that's cool."

Chen Lanjun was too lazy to pay attention to them. She slowly selected clothes while chatting with the boss.

The boss has curly hair, he must have permed it himself.

Chen Lanjun praised her: "Boss, your hairstyle is really fashionable. It must have been done by a barber shop."

The boss laughed and said, "There is only one barber shop in our county. It's of that standard and can do such a good perm. I did it myself."

"No wonder. I was wondering when a barbershop would have such a skilled hairdresser. It turns out you permed it yourself. I wish I could be so skillful."

The boss enjoyed the compliment from the pretty girl. She stroked her hair and said, "You are so sweet, little girl. But the price of clothes here is already very cheap, it can't be any lower."

This boss is obviously very smart. Playing and laughing are fine, but the price should not be reduced by a cent, Chen Lanjun thought. She didn't say nice things just to save a few cents, and still said with a smile: "The boss can get Hong Kong goods, that's really amazing."

The boss raised his eyebrows and said, "Yeah, 'snakes have their own ways, rats have their own ways', it's just to make a living. Which one do you like? Do you want me to help you choose?"

"They are all very nice," Chen Lanjun said, "but I want to ask the boss if it is possible to get other goods besides clothes."

The boss stood up from the rattan chair, took a few steps towards Chen Lanjun, and asked softly, "Oh, what do you want, little sister?"

Chen Lanjun showed her bare wrist and said, "I've always wanted to have a watch, but unfortunately I don't have a ticket and I'm a little short of money. I wonder if there's anything suitable over there."

"As for watches, they're not easy to get," the boss thought for a moment and said, "You see, you definitely can't afford the second-hand watches that the rich people use, and ordinary people won't just throw away good watches. Most of the watches you don't want are broken, and even if you get a pocket watch, you can't use it."

"Is that so?" Chen Lanjun touched his chin. "Forget it then. Can I try these suit pants and shirt?"

"Okay, you can try it in the back room."

Although they were second-hand clothes, the owner had washed them, so there was no smell. The two pieces that Chen Lanjun picked were both of good quality. The white shirt was knotted at the hem, which was different from the ones here. After putting it on, she thought about it, let her ponytail loose, scratched her hair, and looked at herself in the plastic mirror. She felt okay, so she decided to buy the two pieces and picked out a thicker woolen suit because it was off-season and cheaper.

She had a good figure to begin with, and the simple white shirt and suit pants made her look even more popular. When she returned to the guesthouse, the front desk clerk didn't recognize her at first sight and thought she was a new guest. He was about to step forward to greet her, but when he saw that it was Chen Lanjun, his eyes widened.

After waiting for several days, Chen Lanjun would go to the train station to wait every day.

After changing into a set of obviously fashionable clothes, the staff's attitude became noticeably better. She took the opportunity to ask a lot of questions and even bought a pot of herbal tea to give to the cyclists soliciting customers at the door.

Firstly, I wanted them to help keep an eye out for news about my elder sister, and secondly, I wanted to take this opportunity to hear more things.

A jar of herbal tea is not worth much, but it is a thoughtful gesture, and Chen Lanjun looks very amiable. After a few visits, the cyclists became familiar with Chen Lanjun.

These cyclists run around every day to see off customers, and they know a lot of news. For example, a village has already set up a handbag factory with Hong Kong businessmen, and it is said that the villagers can earn 40 to 50 yuan a month; there are also businessmen who come to discuss building houses.

The cyclist Ah Rong who first sent Chen Lanjun said: "I sent him to that unit. I heard they were really going to build a house. I don't know who they will sell it to."

After hearing this, Chen Lanjun kindly reminded Ah Rong: "Speaking of which, you cyclists should also find someone to see if you can start a company together. Business is easy to do now, but when transportation routes and tools are gradually improved, it will not be so easy."

Ah Rong thought about it and nodded seriously: "Thank you, I will consider this matter carefully."

By the last day of the date agreed in the letter, Chen Lanjun had already given up any hope, so she simply sat on the small rattan table and stool in front of the train station, drinking tea and chatting with Arong.

I had finished half of a bowl of herbal tea when I suddenly heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice.

"Second sister?"

Turning around, a beautiful woman in a black dress, a pearl necklace around her neck and a watch on her wrist was looking at her hesitantly.

Chen Lanjun stared at her for a while, stood up, and quickly went to hug her.

"Big sister, I miss you so much."