"Third Sister-in-law, stop with that pitying look. Anyway, I didn't plan to get married, so this is perfect." Xu Minghe couldn't stand people pitying him; there was no need for it.

"Alright, that's enough. In the future, if you find any good girls, keep an eye out for your fourth brother. Don't let it slip in front of your dad, or he might run back to the village and start yelling at people with his fiery temper."

Granny Liu also gave a special reminder to all the children that only the old man didn't know about this, just to keep an eye on him! Luckily, he had taken Panpan to play at the moment.

“We all know that Dad always makes a fuss, even when there’s nothing wrong. By the way, Minghe, you asked me to keep an eye out for houses before, and I actually found one that’s currently renting out. Do you want to go take a look now?”

Xu Minghan even gave the old man guarding the gate of Yongqing Market two packs of cigarettes, asking him to keep an eye out, otherwise he really wouldn't have anywhere to look for them in this rush.

"Why bother looking for a place? It's almost the end of the year, let's talk about it next year." Granny Liu thought that it was not appropriate to rent a place now that the New Year was approaching. It would be a waste of money if the place was empty when she went back for the New Year.

"Mom, look at what you're saying. It's not like you can just find one whenever you want. I asked my third brother to find one for me near Yongqing. It's close to my work. You can't just find one whenever you want. Besides, I can't stand sleeping on the floor every day, especially in the dead of winter. Don't you feel sorry for me?"

If he weren't really struggling, would he have spent the money? But he also felt that it was somewhat inconvenient for so many people to sleep in one house, like having to queue for the toilet in the morning, which was too troublesome. He thought it would be better for him to move out.

"Well, it's not that delicate. Fine, move it if you want, I'm not going to bother with you anymore."

Granny Liu was just being quick-witted, but after thinking about it, she realized it made sense. Now that the old man was here too, there wouldn't be enough room for them to sleep on the floor. Oh well, it wouldn't be right for them all to be crammed together; it would be better to separate them.

The fifth brother, Xu Mingjiang, who had been silent, chimed in quietly, "Mom, third brother, third sister-in-law, I'm also planning to move to the food street area after the New Year. It's a bit inconvenient to go back and forth from here. I've found a single room there that I can cook in, but it won't be available until after the New Year, so I'll have to stay at home for a while longer."

"Hey, Mingjiang, what's the rush? You can stay here too..." Zhang Xuemei said hurriedly, otherwise she would have thought she was kicking him out!

Xu Mingjiang smiled and stopped his third sister-in-law from explaining, "Third sister-in-law, I really think it's inconvenient. It takes too much time to go back and forth, especially at night. I can sleep more if I stay near the snack street."

Granny Liu stopped Zhang Xuemei, who was about to say something, and waved her hand, "Alright, alright, I'll have your third and fourth brothers help you move your things over there. That's all."

"Well, there's something else. Third Brother, could you keep an eye out for houses for me when you have time? I'm thinking of buying a house too." Xu Mingjiang lowered his head a little embarrassedly after saying that.

"Brother, you... have enough money?" Xu Mingwan looked at him in surprise. So fast?

Seeing that his family was staring at him, Xu Mingjiang quickly explained, "I didn't want to buy a big or fancy one, I just wanted a small one, even an older one would be fine."

Working in the catering industry is really tiring, but it's also very profitable, so he has saved up quite a bit of money, which is why he dares to say he wants to buy a house.

"Well done, I didn't know you were ahead of your brother, Xiao Wu. Not bad. How much money have you saved?" Xu Minghe patted his younger brother's shoulder hard. He hadn't realized this quiet kid was such a capable person.

“Yeah, Xiao Wu, what’s your budget for buying a house? I’ll look into finding one for you.” Xu Mingjiang thought he should go ask Liu Ge, the real estate agent he’d met before, since he definitely had a lot of listings.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Mingjiang said, "I can come up with about 80,000 yuan. I'm thinking of buying a place that's about 80 square meters, which should be enough. It doesn't need to be too big." Of course, he also didn't have the money, otherwise he would have disliked anything too big.

"Okay, I'll keep you in mind. Just wait and see!"

"Um, Third Brother, I..."

"What? You want to buy a house too?" Xu Minghan assumed that his younger sister also wanted to buy a house when she responded.

"No, no," Xu Mingwan quickly waved her hand; she was far from having enough money!

"So what were you trying to say just now?"

"I just wanted to ask what you're planning to do with the house you're living in now when you move to the new one? Sell it or rent it out?"

"Oh, you mean this? Why sell it? It's not like we're burning our hands on it. Your third sister-in-law and I are planning to rent it out." Xu Minghan was thinking of selling this house and buying a better one when the property prices went up. The first floor was indeed a bit low and damp.

"But why are you asking this?" Xu Minghan suddenly realized that this had nothing to do with his younger sister.

"Hey, I just ran into someone in the alley a couple of days ago who asked if there were any houses for sale around here, and that's how I suddenly remembered it today."

"Oh, it's alright. Okay, I'll arrange things now. Mom, your job now is to take good care of the two children for us. We'll give you bonuses at the end of the year."

"You don't need to tell me that. Don't worry, everything at home is taken care of. Go do your work, but you also need to take care of your health. If you don't take care of yourself when you're young, you'll suffer a lot later."

Seeing her children working non-stop every day, and noticing that their chins were getting sharper, she, as their mother, felt sorry for them.

The group exchanged glances, all sharing the same thought: if they didn't work hard when they were young, they wouldn't be able to do it when they were old! But they still agreed readily, wanting to put the elders at ease!

Yongqing officially opened on December 8, 1997.

"Third Sister-in-law, I'm so nervous," Xu Mingwan said, pacing back and forth at the door. She eventually went to the baby store next door for comfort.

Zhang Xuemei was both amused and annoyed. She couldn't help but flick her forehead and said, "What are you so nervous about? It's not your wedding. Hurry back to the shop. People will be here soon. We have both wholesale and retail today. Keep an eye on things. There are a lot of people around, so make sure you keep an eye on the goods."

"Okay, I'll go back right away."

Su Luoluo also quietly leaned over and whispered, "Sister Xuemei, actually I'm a little nervous too!"

"Me too, me too," another shop assistant, Zhu Qingqing, chimed in. This was the first time she'd ever seen such a scene. She'd heard there would be tens of thousands of people today; imagine how much merchandise they'd sell!

"You guys, relax. Serve your customers well today, the more you sell, the more you earn. I doubt anyone who comes here will leave empty-handed, so you'd better seize the opportunity. There's one more thing I need to make clear beforehand: whoever serves a customer first gets to keep them. We can't have anyone stealing customers in our shop. That's too unseemly. Anyone who does that can leave, understand?"

Zhang Xuemei had actually witnessed similar incidents in clothing stores and maternity and baby stores where wages were based on commission. There were instances of two employees verbally abusing each other and even fighting over customers. In any case, she would absolutely not allow her employees to do such things.