Chapter 197: Don’t Be Extravagant

Director Huang poured the tea and asked An Zhixia to taste it: "This is the good tea I bought from the headquarters. I usually entertain leaders. If our supply and marketing cooperative had not made a big splash before the New Year, it would have closed down long ago.

Xiao An is a great contributor to our Dongfeng Shili Supply and Marketing Cooperative!"

An Zhixia smiled and waved her hand, attributing the credit to everyone's concerted efforts in an official manner.

"Director, I am not the kind of person who takes credit for myself. If it weren't for your quick thinking and good ideas, everyone would have worked so hard, and Dongfeng Shili would have been closed down and redistributed." Director Huang handed over an invitation letter, "This is what Minister Li asked me to give you."

An Zhixia opened it and took a look. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. Her mind had been turning over and over for a long time, but she pretended to be puzzled and asked: "Director Huang, Minister Li wants me to accompany him to Mr. Bai Yiping's calligraphy exhibition? Why? I just came to Kyoto not long ago, and I only have those two brushes. Minister Li is not afraid that I will lose face for him?"

Director Huang smiled and said, "Minister Li said he wanted to take you there to broaden your horizons. Mr. Bai Yiping is from the Qing Dynasty and has a good hand in calligraphy. He is now teaching at the Imperial University and is quite famous. His eldest son, Mr. Bai Liangxuan, is the vice president of the Calligraphy Association.

They heard about your story and wanted to take this opportunity to see with their own eyes what the young calligraphers who are pasting Spring Festival couplets all over Dongcheng District look like.

Besides, many celebrities and scholars will come to Bai Yiping's calligraphy exhibition, including several managers of the department store. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and knowing your enemy will ensure victory in a hundred battles. Don't you want to challenge them? This is a good opportunity."

"I didn't say I wanted to challenge someone to a duel," An Zhixia was a little bewildered. Although she knew that the second son of the Fang family had become the deputy manager of the department store and that they would become enemies sooner or later, she was not so arrogant as to confront others right after arriving in Kyoto and not even having a firm foothold, and then make the news known to everyone, right?

"You have," Director Huang said, "You compare our supply and marketing cooperative with the department store, which means you are ready to lead the supply and marketing cooperative to severely suppress the department store.

Otherwise, let's put it another way. If you want to improve the efficiency of our Dongcheng District Supply and Marketing Cooperative, we only have so many customers. Isn't that just competing with department stores for customers?

In any case, the department store is doing better than us now, so it won't hurt if you go and take a look.

By the way, although this is Mr. Bai Yiping’s calligraphy exhibition, it is actually his 60th birthday. So, Xiao An, you have to dress a little more formally.”

"I understand, I understand. We shouldn't be extravagant. We can only use other names," An Zhixia nodded in understanding. "Minister Li and Director Huang have both spoken, so I, a small follower, will join in the fun."

When An Zhixia returned to the store, it was already time to get off work. She saw Fang Hongye talking to Mao Xiaotong, and smiled as she approached her and took her arm. "Sister-in-law, why are you here? How was your first day at work? Did you have a good first day?"

Fang Hongye smiled and nodded to the others, then led her sister-in-law to the Baifu State-Owned Restaurant and whispered, "Your brother got half a pound of chocolate from Li Xi and gave most of it away. How could it not go smoothly? Look, it's not even time to get off work yet, but everyone locked the door and left more than half an hour in advance on the pretext of visiting someone. I have nothing to do at home, so I came to have dinner with you guys."

"What are you all busy with?" An Zhixia was very curious about the work of the neighborhood committee in this era.

"They take care of everything, which is quite interesting," Fang Hongye smiled with her dimples pursed, "I just followed a few older sisters to watch the fun this morning."

The two of them were talking when they arrived at the restaurant. An Zhiqiu introduced Fang Hongye to the people in the restaurant and gave out a few chocolate candies. The three of them sat at a small table to eat. They had a cabbage, egg, vermicelli and noodle soup with sesame oil and vinegar, sprinkled with green coriander and green onion leaves, and mixed with chili peppers. They ate until sweat broke out on their foreheads and they were very happy.

After dinner, they held teacups and drank water while talking.

An Zhiqiu asked the same question as the girl.

Fang Hongye smiled and began to report her daily work. "The elder sisters who work in the neighborhood committee are from the same area as us. They were taken away from home before they even started work. When I arrived at the class, another elder sister handed me a pen and a notebook and went to the scene together.

They were responsible for mediation, and I was responsible for recording and organizing. The result was a conflict over improper use of the public toilet. The quarrels between city people were no worse than those between the women in our village, and every word they said was meant to hurt people.

"Are you okay? How did you solve it?" An Zhiqiu asked worriedly.

"It's okay, they are just show-offs. The two elder sisters each pulled one and let them curse at each other. When they got tired of cursing, the elder sisters gave them a few words of admonition and they dispersed." Fang Hongye shrugged. "Then an old lady lost her cat at her mother's house. The elder sister shouted twice with a loudspeaker, and a child came running over with the cat to return it. Well, another family was robbed, but instead of reporting the case, they came to our place to make trouble, saying that we were paid for free and couldn't even maintain public order.

I was so angry, but the older sisters were very calm. They walked around and stopped the son of that family at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative. "

Fang Hongye's eyes sparkled as she spoke of this. "Xia Xia, the job you found for me is exactly what I want! Those ladies are just like the detectives on TV. They can straighten out all the tricky things. It's interesting and challenging."

An Zhiqiu smiled dotingly and said, "I'm glad you like it, but since we've just arrived, we should mainly follow the elder sisters and learn. Don't act alone, understand?"

Fang Hongye nodded obediently, like an elementary school student.

An Zhixia leaned over the table and interrupted, ruining the mood: "Sister-in-law, this is just a springboard for you. We are here to experience life, and your main task is to study.

I'll see if I can find some connections to allow you to study in the first year of high school in September."

When these words were spoken, An Zhiqiu and Fang Hongye were stunned for a moment, revealing conflicted expressions.

An Zhixia smiled and said, "Don't worry, it won't delay you from giving birth to my nephew. We just want a quota so that my sister-in-law can take the exams during the midterm and final exams, and get her student status and diploma at the same time. Maybe when the college entrance examination is resumed, the three of us can go to college together!"

When they heard about college, they threw away all their hesitations and nodded repeatedly, "Study, you must study!"

In the evening, An Zhiqiu started tutoring his wife, while An Zhixia continued to research new programs. In fact, there are only so many types of programs. Due to the limitations of the times, the content that can be presented is also limited. If you want to achieve the impact of other performance teams, Yongyi Performance Group, it is better to use a stupid method: change the soup but not the medicine.

Xia Hua people have a strong ability to imitate. When the Yongyi Troupe became popular, other troupes followed suit, but they only learned the form.

(End of this chapter)