"Ahem - I'm explaining, explaining! I'm not trying to be cunning!"

Li Hongjun was so anxious that he was in a mess. He wiped his sweat and said, "I will definitely be an honest person in the future! I will sell clothes honestly! I will never be smart again... Brother, sister-in-law, please don't blame me, I really didn't mean it... I have learned my lesson, really, absolutely, 100%, I will definitely and definitely learn my lesson!"

As he was speaking, he started to talk nonsense again. To put it bluntly, this is just like "a dog will never change its eating habits".

However, considering Li Hongjun's character, he would not dare to make such a mistake again.

"It's okay as long as you remember it. I'm just worried that you won't. Don't play such tricks next time. We have to make a living based on our own strength." Xu Haizhou glanced at him indifferently and walked towards the gate of the Public Security Bureau with his son in his arms.

"Okay, I will use fair means in the future!" Li Hongjun laughed, and felt relieved when he saw that Xu Haizhou and Qiao Lu did not scold him.

Inside the lobby of the Public Security Bureau, people were sent into the bureau one after another with their hands burned by the police. They followed the police officers around in front of everyone's eyes.

"Finally caught him, the one who smuggled the garbage?"

"Yes, but the mastermind ran away, and this one is an accomplice. There are still a few buyers who have not been caught, and they will continue to be arrested next time."

"OK."

Hearing this, Li Hongjun turned around and looked at the criminal a few more times. It was a young man he didn't know.

"Red Army, what are you looking at? Hurry up and leave." Yu Fan turned around and urged him.

“Oh, here it comes.”

It was almost six o'clock when I came out of the Public Security Bureau. It was getting dark and even the state-owned hotels were about to close.

Li Hongjun apologized and decided to cook for everyone tonight. Before that, he needed to go back to Baiyun Street.

The two men transported the goods home, then went to the market to buy vegetables. After buying everything, they went to Li Hongjun's house.

It is not far from the big compound in Xu Haizhou, less than two kilometers away.

This was not only Yu Fan's first visit to Li Hongjun's home, but also the first visit by Xu Haizhou and his wife.

The large compound has a similar structure and is composed of three courtyards.

Li Hongjun is from another place and rents a house. This is the best place he can rent.

But this is also the most remote courtyard in the inner part, even more crowded than Xu Haizhou's. Both sides of the road are filled with all kinds of debris, and there is almost no place to step.

I finally squeezed into the house. Although it was small, about 14 or 15 square meters, it looked much more spacious than the yard outside. There was a small bed on the wall, with a glass window, so it wasn't too stuffy.

Li Hongjun may seem unreliable, but he is actually a very clean and organized man.

He kept the cabin tidy and the cement floor was clean and shiny, looking more exquisite than tiles.

"It's not as spacious as your house. You can sit anywhere, on the bed or on a small stool."

Three adults and one child sat down one after another. Qiao Lu had developed a habit since she was young. When she went to other people's homes, she would try not to sit on their beds to avoid getting them dirty.

"Even though the house is small and dirty, it's enough for you to live in by yourself." She smiled as she looked around.

Li Hongjun poured water for several people and took out the brown sugar that had been stored for several months and had not been eaten, and made brown sugar water.

There are no water cups in the house. We usually drink water from bowls. But apart from the large bowl for dishes, there are only two small bowls in the house.

So he went to his next-door neighbor's house and borrowed three bowls.

He smiled awkwardly: "Normally, not many people come to my place. Occasionally, one or two friends come. Today is considered a big one. There are three of you and a child with you. I can only borrow from the next door."

As he spoke, he prepared the brown sugar water and passed it over.

Xu Haizhou took it and thanked him: "It's okay, it would be a waste to buy so many if you don't need them."

Li Hongjun chuckled and pointed outside the courtyard: "Then you guys sit down for a while. I'll go outside to wash the vegetables and cook."

There is a small well in the yard, and we usually go there to pump water when washing vegetables.

The small kitchen is the same as Xu Haizhou's home, a small space that he had cleared out in the yard. Housing space is limited these days, so everyone makes do this way.

Yu Fan gulped down the sugar water in two gulps, patted his butt and chased after them: "Let me help you, both of you hurry up."

"OK."

Li Hongjun and his wife went to the kitchen to cook, while the couple took their son for a walk in the large courtyard.

Since being released from prison, the boy has been particularly attached to Xu Haizhou, almost never leaving his side, hugging him and calling him softly and sweetly: "Dad, Dad~"

Qiao Lu looked at him with amusement for a few more times, thinking that her son was really born in the wrong family. He had such a soft personality, only he would be a daughter.

"What's wrong, son?" Xu Haizhou smiled and kissed his little face.

"Dad, let's never be separated, okay?" She hugged Xu Haizhou's head, nose to nose, and said softly.

Looking at his son lying on his shoulder, Xu Haizhou smiled gently and patted his back: "We will never be separated. At least until you come of age, Dad will always be here."

"You're gone after you grow up?" The young man raised his head and stared at him with concern.

"You will be gone after you become an adult." Xu Haizhou said, tapping the tip of his nose.

"Why am I gone? I don't want to disappear." Qiao An was a little nervous, hugging his neck tightly and rubbing it restlessly.

"When you become an adult, An An will become an adult. Adults have their own tasks. Then you won't be able to stick to your parents like you do now. You may have to go to another city to attend college or go to work. Do you understand?"

After thinking for a while, Qiao An nodded: "I know, just like Dad, it takes three days to get to Dad's hometown by train. You are very far away from your parents."

Xu Haizhou smiled and nodded: "Yes, that's right."

The young man's voice became noticeably quieter: "Then can I work here in the future? I don't want to go far away from my parents."

Xu Haizhou smiled and said, "Sure, it's up to you. Go wherever you like."

Just one sentence made the child happy. She bent her lips, held Xu Haizhou's face and kissed him several times.

"I like Daddy, I'm right here with Daddy."

…

In the kitchen, Li Hongjun and his partner were busy cooking.

Yu Fan's parents died when she was nine years old. She was used to being independent and had good cooking skills, after all, she grew up doing this kind of work.

“Let’s eat!”

More than an hour later, Li Hongjun returned to the room carrying a large pot of mutton soup. The small table had already been set, and Qiao An had volunteered to bring out the bowls and chopsticks, which were neatly arranged.

"It's time for dinner, Dad!" Rubbing his son's head, Xu Haizhou stood up and carried him to the dining table.

The mutton is strong and firm, and although it is a fishy food, he made it fresh and fragrant, without any earthy smell. Served with white radish and tofu puff, it is superbly delicious.

"It's great. The craftsmanship is really good." Yu Fan praised it endlessly.

"It's pretty good. I didn't know you had this skill."

The mutton was a little hot when it came out of the pot, but Li Hongjun ate it with a grin on his face, and he raised his eyebrows proudly at the two women: "Of course, it's definitely better than the one in Haizhou."

Qiao Lu looked at him and smiled: "How do you know he's better than him?"

Li Hongjun sneered and picked up a piece of tofu puff: "Don't you have Haizhou? You cook for him every day. Your cooking skills are definitely not as good as a single man like me! As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. How can you get good without doing it?"

Qiao An immediately defended her father: "My father can cook. His cooking is delicious. He makes breakfast for me and my mother every day."

He and his mother can sleep in every day, and his father is doing well.

"Yeah, that's great. He loves his wife very much." Yu Fan was very impressed by the young couple.

She usually opens the shop at nine o'clock every morning, gets up half an hour earlier, and buys some steamed buns from any stall on the road for breakfast.

However, every time I rushed to Baiyun Street, Xu Haizhou had not only arrived long ago, but also had the goods sorted.

It would take at least half an hour to finish such a large room of goods. It takes an hour to ride a bicycle from the compound, so he needs to prepare breakfast at least an hour and a half in advance, which is 7:30. It will take at least half an hour, so he has to get up before 7 o'clock.

Good guy, if she had this much time, she could have gone to the restaurant to buy breakfast and made breakfast. Wouldn’t it be better to sleep a little longer?

Qiao Lu stroked her son's chin and said with a teasing smile, "That's right. It seems I have to let him cook more often in the future and try to become a better cook than you."

After saying that, he poked Xu Haizhou's arm with his elbow and asked, "How is it?"

Xu Haizhou was suddenly called upon, paused, then smiled and looked at his wife: "It's all right, if you like the food I cook, just wait for me to come back and cook it in the evening."

He has a really good temper and has never refused her anything as long as it is possible.

He makes breakfast and dinner, so Qiao Lu only makes lunch. Thinking of this, the woman shook her head and said, "I'm kidding. If I wait for you to come back every day to make dinner, I'll be asleep by the time I finish eating."

There is only one stove at home, no faucet, no rice cooker, and no spacious stove, so cooking is still quite time-consuming.

"I like my dad's cooking and my mom's cooking too. I like them all!" Qiao An shouted happily.

"You're not picky." Li Hongjun pinched his face.

Everyone started laughing, and the meal became more and more harmonious. They gradually talked about their lives and then work, and the topic suddenly became serious.

"We can't make false claims now, but once the pirated version comes out, it will directly affect half of our revenue. If this continues, we may not be able to compete. What should we do in the future?"

Speaking of this, Li Hongjun really wanted to drag the pirated manufacturer out and give him a good beating.

Then there are the clothing vendors on Baiyun Street, who not only steal clothes, but also steal marketing methods!

It would be fine if they stole the goods, and if my own profits were stable, I wouldn't bother to argue with them. But when a large number of key customers were robbed, who wouldn't bother to argue?

"What do you think?" Qiao Lu couldn't figure it out for a while, so she just asked her man.

After chewing two mouthfuls of mutton and swallowing it, Xu Haizhou thought for a moment and said, "Since we can't defeat them, let's join them."

Qiao Lu raised her eyebrows, vaguely guessing his plan: "You mean..."

"We also look for manufacturers to process our products to reduce costs and improve production efficiency." The advantage of having a fixed manufacturer to source goods from is that at least we don't have to worry about running out of stock during peak sales, which would hurt profits.

"You mean, we give the factory the drawings and let them produce our clothes?" Li Hongjun stopped picking up food and asked.

"Yeah." Xu Haizhou nodded.

Li Hongjun's eyes widened in surprise: "Where can we find factories these days? Not to mention asking them to produce our clothes, even if we buy ready-made clothes from them, they may not give them to us."

"Find that pirated manufacturer. Since he can sell it to Meng Guoan, he can definitely sell it to you!" Yu Fan said.

Xu Haizhou glanced at her and nodded: "Yes, we can ask Meng Guoan where they got the goods. Since they can supply them, they can definitely supply us. In addition, the country is gradually liberalizing now, and many state-owned factories will also cooperate with private merchants, not to mention that private factories are also slowly getting up. We will find it eventually, there is no rush."

Qiao Lu knew that he had the habit of reading newspapers every day, so he should be quite familiar with national policies. So she looked at Li Hongjun and nodded: "That's fine. You two can arrange shifts. One person will look after the store, and the other will go to find the factory. Take turns."

"No need to line up, let Haizhou go. Although I am good at talking, I can only deal with people of the same level as me. I can't deal with big leaders."

As he said this, he smiled awkwardly: "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I was afraid of teachers when I was in school. After I grew up and went out into society, I worked in a factory for a while, but I was afraid of my leaders and didn't like the life of staying in a cage with only three points and one line, so I went out to work on my own. But now I'm still afraid of my leaders. I'm quite timid when facing those factory managers and leaders."

Stage fright can easily lead to embarrassment: "If you embarrass yourself, it will be a loss, so let's go to Haizhou."

Xu Haizhou is steady, eloquent, polite and intelligent. He should be the one to negotiate this matter.

"Okay." The three of them agreed and let Xu Haizhou go to negotiate.

"There's one more thing." Qiao Lu suddenly thought: "It's impossible to completely curb piracy, but there is a way to reduce our losses."

"What?" the two men asked in unison, and even Yu Fan looked at her curiously.

Her eyes moved across everyone's faces one by one, and Qiao Lu said word by word: "Create our own brand."

The two men looked at Qiao Lu in surprise with great interest in their eyes.

"When it comes to liquor, which brand do you think of first?" asked Qiao Lu.

"Maotai?" the two men asked in unison.

"Right." She snapped her fingers and asked, "What about bicycles and sewing machines? What brand do you think of first?"

"As for bicycles, they must be Feiduo, Forever and Phoenix! Not to mention sewing machines, they must be Butterfly! I bought one for my mother when I went back to my hometown last year. I remember that Haizhou also bought a Butterfly for you, right?" Li Hongjun boasted.

"Butterfly, Mom, our sewing machine is a butterfly~" Even Qiao An knew it.

"That's right." Jolu stroked his head and laughed: "See, this is the role of branding. As long as your brand is well-known, even if other brands appear, it will not shake its position in the minds of consumers."

Xu Haizhou nodded in agreement: "That's right. If we can also create the best clothing brand, then even if other brands emerge later, we can still be the clothing brand that everyone thinks of first."

A bright light suddenly burst out in Li Hongjun's eyes.

"Great! It turns out the solution is right next to us, but we just didn't think of it!"

However, even many large state-owned factories cannot realize such a beautiful dream. Can they do it?

While being happy, one cannot help but have some thoughts.

Let alone creating their own brand, they were stumped by the first step.

Where can I find this clothing factory? Which manufacturer can cooperate with them?

"Let's put it this way. Starting tomorrow, whether it's clothes, pants or bags, everything we make will be sewn with our brand logo." After thinking for a while, Qiao Lu said, "I can go back tonight and draw the logo, and then touch up the color tomorrow."

"Okay, that's fine!" Li Hongjun agreed with both hands and feet, "But what name should it be? Should we write Chinese characters on the clothes? But some illiterate people can't read the words!"

"What do you think?" Xu Haizhou looked at Qiao Lu.

It can be said that Qiao Lu has made the greatest contribution to the development of the clothing stall to its current level.

Without her, they could have made money, but without her, they would never have been able to achieve their dream of creating a brand.

With the hard work of Xu Haizhou and Li Hongjun, perhaps that day will come, but it will definitely not be a dream in 1984.

So the right to bear the surname can be given to her.

"Hmm..." Qiao Lu thought while eating.

Naming a child is a simple thing, but it takes a lot of thought to choose a good one.

The meal was almost over and Qiao Lu had no ideas.

"Mom, are you going to name the clothes?" The little guy was very smart. He actually understood what the adults were saying.

"Yes." Qiao Lu smiled and gave her son a piece of lamb tripe.

"Clothes also have to have names?" the boy asked innocently.

"Of course not. You have a name, so how can your clothes not have a name?" Li Hongjun said with a smile.

"Then let's call it Piaopiao, because the clothes my mother made are very beautiful!"

puff--

All the adults in the room were so amused by the child's childish words that they burst into laughter.

"This name is cute, but I don't think it's very suitable," Li Hongjun said worriedly.

"Well, well..." The boy scratched his head and suddenly an idea came to his mind: "Let's call it a little bee! Our clothes are made by a butterfly machine. Butterflies are insects, and little bees are also insects! They are good friends!"

I have to say that four-year-old Qiaoan has an astonishingly large vocabulary and a sharp mind, and the name is quite appropriate.

"But isn't the little bee a little too childish?" Yu Fan asked.

"Isn't Butterfly also a child? She also sells sewing machines." Li Hongjun said with a smile.

"All right."

After thinking about it, Qiao Lu finally gave the decision to Qiao An.

Since my son likes it, let’s call it Little Bee. It’s cute, simple and easy to remember.

The young man was very excited because he got the right to pass on his surname. For the first time, he felt so useful!

I can actually help mom and dad name their clothes, and these names can be sold for money. From now on, all the clothes in their house will be called Little Bees!

This is such a meaningful thing!

This is so cool!

Apart from the incident of being detained in the police station, everyone was very happy tonight. Except for Qiaolu, every adult drank a little wine.

Li Hongjun insisted on letting Qiao An taste the white wine. The kid was deceived into thinking that the white wine was delicious, so he tentatively stuck out his tongue and took a sip. Well, the spiciness made him cry.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Uncle is a bad guy. Go and tickle him and punish him." Qiao Lu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was told not to do so, but she couldn't resist the temptation. Now she is done for.

This child is a little naughty now.

After hearing what her mother said, Qiao An cried and hugged Uncle Li's waist.

Li Hongjun was afraid of being tickled, but he didn't dare to hide. He laughed so hard that tears burst out. Even the neighbors next door, separated by a wall, could probably hear his wild laughter.

The room was filled with laughter and joy from both adults and children.

The child laughed happily, and then continued to chew the bone.

After dinner, Qiao An was too exhausted to walk and was held in Xu Haizhou's arms.

Bianwo was in his father's arms, waving to Li Hongjun: "Goodbye, uncle, thank you for your hospitality, I am very happy today."

"As long as you're happy, you're so good. Oh, your little face is so tender... Come on, give me a kiss, little baby!" As she said this, she was about to lean over to kiss him.

The young man dodged flexibly and buried his face in Xu Haizhou's shoulder: "No, no, you still can't kiss me!"

"Hahaha - you little ungrateful bastard, go away, go away. If you don't want to kiss me, forget it. I will kiss my own son next time."

Unexpectedly, Qiao An waved his hands in a serious tone: "Then uncle, please give birth to a baby soon."

This way, you won't pester him for kisses anymore.

"Hahaha--"

The author has something to say:

Qiaoan: Food bribe, what?

(You look fat today, right?)