Chapter 523: The East Wind Becomes the Northwest Wind
Gu Xuemei originally planned to expand her store. Her store sells a lot of things with a variety of categories, and the layout does not look very beautiful.
When Meixia was planning to switch to high-end women's clothing, she called Gu Xuemei and asked her if she would consider going there again, because the women's clothing industry in Fuzhou is developing very well. But Gu Xuemei was already married and had children, so she would definitely not be able to leave, so she declined.
The first two times Gu Xuemei went to Fu City to purchase goods, she also went to Meixia's place to take a look. Meixia's shop in the wholesale market is still there, but it has been renovated. The miscellaneous goods that used to be there are gone, and the shop is full of high-end women's clothing. She not only does wholesale, but also retail. She bought a shop of nearly 100 square meters in a newly opened commercial street in Fu City. The decoration is very stylish at first glance. There are fitting rooms in the shop, as well as sofas for customers to rest. Snacks and drinks are also provided, and the service is extremely thoughtful.
It would be a lie for Gu Xuemei to say that she was not moved, but when she thought of how young Jingyu was, she gave up the idea and persuaded herself that life in the town was still pretty good. She couldn't leave, but she could bring the fashion of the south to the small town in the north and make money there too. It wouldn't be much, but she was content with a small fortune.
After Song Ningwei learned of Gu Xuemei's plan, he felt that the two of them were really in sync, and he immediately said that he would quit his job at the factory and go home to help Gu Xuemei: "Men and women work together, and the work is not tiring!"
After hearing about this, Song's mother and father gave Song Ningwei another lecture. In a nutshell, they told him not to resign, even if he worked until retirement, he would still only be a team leader in the workshop.
Song Ningwei said confidently: "I didn't quit my job to stay at home with nothing to do. I wanted to help Xuemei! Husband and wife are united in purpose and can break iron with joint strength!"
Gu Xuemei was on the same front as her parents-in-law, but she was not aware of the old couple's concerns. They were afraid that Song Ningwei would take over her business. She simply didn't want Song Linwei to suffer.
Unexpectedly, Song Ningwei actually quit his job on his own initiative.
As soon as his resignation application was submitted, Liu Wangxue's grandfather knew about it - the leader's son-in-law wanted to resign, and the human resources department would not dare to do it quietly.
Liu Wangxue's grandfather immediately made an internal call and called Song Ningwei to the office to ask him what was going on.
Song Ningwei spoke the truth, but this made Liu Wangxue's grandfather very angry. He really wanted to point at his nose and scold him for being dreamy, and asked him if he knew his own weight.
Of course Song Ningwei didn't know, and Liu Wangxue's grandfather didn't curse him. He waved his hand and asked him to go out, then called his in-laws.
Song Ningwei's resignation was suppressed again this time.
However, this also aroused his rebellious psychology. He felt that no one in his family understood and supported him. Every day in the factory, he was either bullied by his co-workers or his superiors. Seeing that his elder brother and brother-in-law lived such a comfortable life, he felt even worse.
You don’t want him to resign, right? Okay, he doesn’t want to go to work anyway, so he’s absent from work!
Song Ningwei's behavior made Gu Xuemei feel distressed, so she acted as a "peacemaker" and stood with Song Ningwei to help him persuade both parents.
Liu Wangxue's grandfather looked at Gu Xuemei with a look of disappointment, and pointed at Song Ningwei's nose and scolded: "Do you know that because of him, I have lost my face in the factory!"
Mother Song and Father Song apologized and took Song Ningwei to Liu Wangxue's grandfather to force him to admit his mistake.
However, it was useless. Although Song Ningwei apologized, the expression on his face always said "What have I done wrong?"
In the end, the farce ended and with Gu Xuemei's support, Song Ningwei won.
Afterwards, Liu Wangxue's grandparents were angry about this for a long time. For at least a month or two, they didn't treat Song Ningwei well, and the same went for Gu Xuemei.
When Gu Xuemei was expanding and renovating her store, Mother Song had a chat with her once, but her words were very tactful, as a reminder: "Xuemei, you know Xiaowei is not good at socializing, and he is also stubborn. Just quit your job at the factory. It's a good opportunity for him to stay at home and take care of Jingyu, so that you can be more free to do business. In the future, when you go to the south to purchase goods, you should tell me in advance, and I will come to watch the store for you, okay."
Gu Xuemei didn't think much about it. She knew that Song Ningwei was not good at socializing. She also wanted Song Ningwei to take care of Jingyu. She could let him pick up and drop off the child to and from kindergarten, which would be convenient.
After the store expansion and renovation was completed, Gu Xuemei's store became the only one in the town, and business was booming. In the past two years, similar stores had opened in the town, but the town had a limited population, so the customer flow would inevitably be divided.
Gu Xuemei's decoration this time was modeled after that in Fu City. She still did business like magazines and DVDs, so she set aside a small corner in the wall. She also completely separated men's and women's clothing so that the two sides would not disturb each other.
Reopening meant that all the items were new, all of which were popular in the south and rarely sold in the north. During that period, the store was extremely busy, and Liu Wangxue's grandmother and Song's mother came to help almost every day.
Song Ningwei was the same. He came directly to the store after sending Jingyu to kindergarten. However, there were two elderly people watching over him, so he was only asked to serve tea and water, and nothing went wrong.
Song Ningwei was extremely happy, and felt that he had ushered in the second spring of his career, while also taking care of his family. When he saw Gu Xuehui, Liu Nanshan, and the people in the textile factory again, he finally felt proud.
If things could remain like this, it would be great. At least Gu Xuemei would be able to devote herself to her career wholeheartedly.
But is Song Ningwei a person who is content with his lot? He is not. The prosperous scene gave him the illusion that it was all due to his dedication to help after he resigned. For example, he also participated in the store decoration, and customers said it was beautiful. He also helped to look after the store, and the store's turnover was relatively high during the time he was there.
Song Ningwei felt that it was not that he did not have the business acumen, he just did not have the opportunity. He had now proven himself, and on this basis, he could give his family a surprise and let them see his true strength.
When Song Ningwei was picking up Jingyu from school, he got to know several parents, and through them he got to know some of their business partners. After a few visits, they became familiar with each other by having meals and drinking tea together.
When Song Ningwei listened to them talking about business, investment, and finance, he was bewitched by their well-reasoned analysis. He thought they were very capable and started to invest with them.
Gu Xuemei didn't manage the family's money very strictly, because Song Ningwei handed over all his salary after getting married. He didn't smoke, drink, or play cards, and he didn't have any bad habits. He would tell Gu Xuemei about buying things and socializing, and Gu Xuemei would give him the money. So Gu Xuemei never restricted Song Ningwei in terms of money. Although Liu Wangxue's grandmother and Song's mother had reminded her, she thought Song Ningwei was highly self-conscious, so setting limits was not important at all.
Until one day, Gu Xuehui and Yuan Lianyun came back and brought a big order to Gu Xuemei. It was a relative of Gu Xuehui's boss, who said he wanted to switch to high-end women's clothing.
In fact, this opportunity is more or less related to Gu Xuemei.
Whenever Gu Xuemei's store has nice clothes and accessories, the first thing she thinks of is her family, especially those fashionable and beautiful women's clothes, she will definitely send some to Yuan Lianyun and Gu Xuelan first. They both have good figures, and wearing them is equivalent to advertising for her store.
The high-end women's clothing business is not easy to do in the town, but this dress is really good, whether it is the material or the workmanship, you can tell at a glance that it is different. When Gu Xuemei went to buy goods, she brought back a few sets from Meixia's store for her sister and sister-in-law.
Gu Xuehui was appreciated by his leader, so Yuan Lianyun naturally wanted to get along well with the leader's wife. At a party, Yuan Lianyun wore a dress that Gu Xuemei brought back for her. The moment she appeared, she became the focus of the party, and everyone asked her where she bought it.
Yuan Lianyun took the opportunity to bring customers to Gu Xuemei, and seeing the business opportunities, he also asked Gu Xuemei if she wanted to open a store in the city.
At that time, Song Ningwei had not resigned yet, and Gu Xuemei was thinking about her family and children, so she said there was no rush. Yuan Lianyun did not persuade her any further.
Now, this business opportunity has been seen by others.
The boss' wife personally approached Yuan Lianyun and said that her relative wanted to get involved in the clothing industry, specializing in high-end women's clothing. She didn't have a production line and didn't plan to build one, so she wanted to find a suitable source of goods and sell the ready-made clothes directly wholesale.
Yuan Lianyun knew what was going on. He just wanted her to be a middleman and ask Gu Xuemei for help. It was also an olive branch so they could make money together.
Yuan Lianyun said to Gu Xuemei: "Your friend in Fu City does this, you can negotiate with her and ask her to give you a friendly price, and you can also earn some hard work fees from it."
Unexpectedly, Gu Xuemei shook her head and said, "Sister-in-law, how much is that hard work fee? I have thought about it and think what you said before is right. I will also open a store in the city. But don't worry, it will definitely not affect the business of my eldest brother's family. She opened it in the south of the city, and I will open it in the north of the city. When I have time in a few days, I will go and see if there is a suitable store to rent."
The children at home are being taken care of by Song Ningwei, and the apprentice taken in by Song's father at the restaurant has already completed his apprenticeship, so she can ask Song's mother to help look after her shop. Now she can really get away.
Gu Xuemei continued, "I will also be a middleman to help connect Big Brother's family with Meixia."
Seeing that Gu Xuemei had this plan, Yuan Lianyun was quite happy for her: "It just so happens that your brother and I also have a store in Shibei. We will keep an eye out for you when we go back. If we find a suitable store, we will call you and let you know."
On the way home, Gu Xuemei had been calculating in her mind how much money the family had currently, how much it would cost to rent a store, how much it would cost to buy a store, whether it was more cost-effective to rent or buy, if she wanted to buy, would the money be enough, whether she needed to borrow from her eldest brother or sister, etc.
Gu Xuemei had thought of everything, but when she got home and found her passbook, she discovered that there was very little money left!
Gu Xuemei was shocked and suspected that there was a thief in the house, but how could a thief steal the passbook, withdraw the money, and then return the passbook?
When Song Ningwei brought the child back, Gu Xuemei finally realized what had happened. Song Ningwei had taken all the money out for investment.
Gu Xuemei had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem and asked, "What kind of investment requires so much money? Why don't you talk to your partner and ask him to withdraw the money first? If you can't withdraw all of it, then withdraw part of it. I need it urgently."
Song Ningwei hesitated.
Gu Xuemei suddenly felt that something was wrong. Usually, Song Ningwei could not keep things to himself and would tell whatever he wanted. Why was it so difficult to ask him a question today? After repeated questioning, Song Ningwei finally told the truth.
It turned out that the so-called investment was that he was deceived into buying stocks, saying that he would make money, but in fact he was tricked into taking over the stocks. As soon as he bought in, he was trapped.
Gu Xuemei didn't understand what "taking over" and "locking in" meant, but her intuition told her that these were definitely not good words. Her eldest brother and his wife were still at her parents' house, so she called them to ask.
After hanging up the phone, Gu Xuemei was furious and had her first quarrel with Song Ningwei - she unilaterally scolded Song Ningwei.
Song Ningwei knew he was in the wrong, and he huddled in the corner of the sofa like a quail, not saying a word. After Gu Xuemei slammed the door and left, he immediately picked up Jingyu, who was crying loudly, and chased after her.
Gu Xuemei didn't go anywhere, but ran back to her parents' home and continued crying after entering the house.
No one in the family knew what had happened and they were all anxiously asking questions and comforting each other.
Gu Xuehui thought of the words his sister had asked him over the phone just now and guessed, "Is it Song Ningwei? Is he playing the stock market?"
When Gu Xuemei heard this, she cried even harder: "Brother, all my work these years has been in vain--"
Liu Wangxue's grandparents were shocked and angry. When they looked up, they saw Song Ningwei standing at the door holding Jingyu, whose face was red from crying.
Liu Wangxue's grandmother was so distressed that she quickly took Jingyu over. Yuan Lianyun went to the bathroom to wring out a towel to wipe the child's face. After wiping, the mother and daughter took the child out to coax her.
Liu Wangxue's grandfather pointed at Song Ningwei with a shaking finger. He couldn't get angry just now because the child was around, but now he had no scruples and questioned Song Ningwei harshly.
Song Ningwei shrank his head and confessed everything, then said: "I sold it, and I sold it at the right time. I lost almost all the money I invested, but I didn't owe any money..."
The more he spoke, the lower his voice became because Gu Xuemei's crying became louder and louder. His father-in-law and brother-in-law opposite him were staring at him with unfriendly eyes.
Gu Xuehui wanted to crack open Song Ningwei's brain to see what was inside. He heard some inside information at work but he didn't dare to follow the trend and buy it, just in case. How dare Song Ningwei? ! Besides, there are so many stocks with daily limit in the market, how could he be fooled into buying them? ! Gu Xuehui couldn't figure it out.
Naturally, this matter could not be hidden from Song Ningwei's parents, so Liu Wangxue's grandfather called them immediately and asked them to come over.
Because they knew what kind of person their son was, Song's mother and father kept a low profile from the beginning of their children's relationship. They thought it was very difficult for their son to find a beautiful, capable and likable wife, so they wanted to be nicer to Gu Xuemei so that she could be nicer to Song Ningwei. The couple had lived a good life in the past few years. Song Ningwei did not cause any trouble after resigning. Song's mother and father thought that they could live like this and they were relieved. Who would have thought that Song Ningwei's peace of mind was just an appearance, and he was going to have a big fight.
But what can we do now that it has happened? The money was not stolen or robbed. If it was, we could report it to the police and it might be recovered. But in the stock market, if you lose money, you lose it.
Gu Xuemei was so angry that she stayed at her mother's house for several days and didn't even have the mood to visit the store. In the end, Song's father and mother came to pick her up with Song Ningwei and Jingyu.
Mother Song thought that since Gu Xuemei was willing to come back, her anger should have subsided a little. She pulled Gu Xuemei into the bedroom, stuffed a passbook into her hand, and said, "Ning Wei is a bad boy. Your father and I apologize to you on his behalf. Ning Wei told me that you wanted to open a store in the city. He said that if he had known earlier, he would never touch the money. This passbook contains the savings of your father and me. Do you think it is enough for you to open a store? Ning Wei has already known his mistake, so you should forgive him. From now on, you should hold all the money in your hands and don't let him touch it, okay."
Gu Xuelan and Liu Nanshan were not at home when the incident happened. They only found out about it after they came back and saw that the atmosphere at home was not right and asked about it.
After discussing with Liu Nanshan, Gu Xuelan went to find Gu Xuemei. Yuan Lianyun also went with them. Like Mother Song, he went there to give her money and to advise her not to be as careless as before and to manage her money well.
How could Gu Xuemei accept the old couple's life savings? A few days later, she returned the passbook. However, she accepted the money from her eldest sister-in-law and elder sister. She couldn't open the store in the city, but her store in town needed funds to turn around. She would return it to her eldest sister-in-law and elder sister when she earned money.
Song Ningwei almost made the family lose everything by doing this. He also knew that he was wrong. In the past few days, he had been very careful with Gu Xuemei. Even Jingyu felt that the atmosphere at home was not good, and she looked at Gu Xuemei with some fear.
After getting angry, you have to continue living. Gu Xuemei tried to comfort herself. She thought, who can't make mistakes? Just like when she opened a store with others, wasn't she also cheated? But then she thought again, no, she was cheated because she was stupid and had no brains, but Song Ningwei was different from her. Song Ningwei was a real college student with such a high degree, how could he be cheated so badly? Gu Xuemei couldn't figure it out, and she didn't have time to think about it. She had to cheer up quickly, otherwise her family would really not be able to survive.
It wasn't until Jingyu went to primary school that she finally recovered. Gu Xuemei paid back all the money she borrowed from her sister and her eldest sister-in-law. Two years later, she had saved up a lot of money. Mother Song gave her some money, and she borrowed some from her eldest brother. She still wanted to open a store in the city.
But it didn't happen this time, one of the reasons was that she was pregnant.
Gu Xuemei and Song Ningwei originally planned to have a second child, not only because they liked children, but also because Song Ningwei was the only son in the Song family for three generations. Mother and Father Song had such a terrible son, and they no longer cared about whether to leave an heir or not. It was Gu Xuemei who felt that the genes of college students must be passed on. Having a daughter was not enough, and it would be better to have a son. Having both sons and daughters would make up the Chinese character "good", how happy it would be.
However, when she was pregnant with Song Jingyu, she was not in good condition. She was thinking about business and did not rest well during the confinement period. After that, she wanted to have a second child but never got pregnant. After several years, she was about to give up, but she didn't expect the child to come. This was really a pleasant surprise.
Gu Xuemei cherished the child very much, and the doctor also advised her to rest more, so the plan of opening a store in the city was temporarily shelved.
Before this, a good friend of Song Ningwei's from many years ago came back. The two of them had a meal together and chatted for a long time. Song Ningwei learned that this person had contracted a vineyard in the northwest and was now doing wine business. After the two of them met several times, Song Ningwei learned that this friend came back to open up the market in his hometown and find an agent. He also asked him if he was willing to do it because the profit was lucrative.
Song Ningwei refused without a second thought at first, as he knew nothing about wine, let alone business - things he only came to understand about himself in recent years.
Until one family dinner, Gu Xuehui brought back a bottle of wine. Song Ningwei saw that it was the brand run by his friend. He asked Gu Xuehui a few more questions, and the origin, quality, grade, etc. were all correct.
After hearing this, Gu Xuehui said, "It just so happens that our unit is going to distribute year-end benefits, and the leader thinks this wine is good, so if it's convenient for you, please help me make some connections." He didn't dare to hand it over directly to Song Ningwei, for fear that he would mess it up.
Song Ningwei learned the real profit in the matchmaking process. He felt that there was money to be made, and a lot of it. But he didn't dare to make a decision on his own and went home to discuss it with Gu Xuemei.
Considering that he had been deceived by a so-called "friend" to enter the stock market, even though Gu Xuehui's unit had purchased it first, Gu Xuemei did not agree outright. She first asked Song Ningwei to set up a plan, and she met the friend in person and talked with him. She learned that he and Song Ningwei were high school classmates and had a close relationship, so she went home to ask Song's mother and father.
Mother Song remembered this person. How could she not remember that her son, who was a bad-mouthed and stupid boy, had such a close friend? Mother Song said, "He is an honest boy, but smarter than our Ning Wei. He helped Ning Wei a lot in school."
Song Ningwei replied: "The kind who have fought together and wear the same pants."
Gu Xuemei was still not in a hurry. She was relieved when she saw that there was no problem with the purchase of her eldest brother's unit. She thought that the store in the city could not be opened for the time being. Now that she was pregnant, she could not go south either. She had to call Meixia to ask her to deliver the goods directly. When the second child was born, there would be one more mouth to feed at home, but raising a child is not just about feeding and clothing. She had to develop more extracurricular hobbies like Jingyu, and all of them cost money.
After careful consideration, Gu Xuemei nodded in agreement.
In order to run this business well and perform well in front of Gu Xuemei, Song Ningwei applied for a sum of money from Gu Xuemei and went to the provincial government to enroll in a wine tasting course. He studied for a while. After returning, he rented a store in the city and his friends helped him with the formalities.
Gu Xuemei joked, "Well, this is another store. If I had known earlier, I might as well have opened my clothing store directly."
Song Ningwei was so happy that he didn't know what to do: "How can it be the same? This is my career now."
Everything was ready, except for the east wind. However, this "east wind" turned into a "northwest wind" in the end - the wine sent by the friend was fake.
It's not fake wine, the wine is real, but the quality is completely different from what he promised, and it can't be sold at a high price.
Ever since Song Ningwei finished his wine tasting class, he has liked to have a drink or two when he has nothing to do. When this good wine comes, he will definitely take it home and open a bottle to taste it himself. As a result, the bottle is the same bottle, but the wine inside is completely different.
Song Ningwei was terrified, and used all his acting skills to avoid revealing any flaws. The next day, he hurried to the store and randomly picked out a few bottles for testing, and the results were the same.
This was the end. Song Ningwei was so scared that he was at a loss. He didn't dare to tell Gu Xuemei, worried that her mood swings would affect the baby in her belly. So he had to call Gu Xuehui and tell him the truth.
Gu Xuehui had not expected this result. After all, their unit had purchased it, and if there was a problem, he would be the first to be held responsible, so he did not stop his sister and brother-in-law from doing this business. He also wanted to do it, but he was just short of funds for the time being, so he gave up. In the end, it turned out to be a big pit.
Song Ningwei tried to contact this friend again, but this person seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, and his parents didn't know where he had gone.
This matter could not be publicized, so Gu Xuehui secretly asked someone for help to find out about Song Ningwei's friend. After asking around, he found out that he was indeed in the wine business, but he was just a middleman, and the contract and estate were all fake.
Song Ningwei tried his best to conceal it in front of Gu Xuemei, but she still found out the truth. After further questioning, he told everything.
Song Ningwei advised Gu Xuemei not to be angry: "Brother is already thinking of a way, he will definitely find him."
How could Gu Xuemei not be angry? She had invested most of her money in the wine business in the past few years. Now she was told that all the wines in the store were inferior goods that could not be sold at a high price. How could she not be angry? ! Gu Xuemei went to Song Ningwei's friend's house in anger and asked his parents to pay compensation. During the argument, she fell and the child was gone.
In the end, the other party's parents paid a portion of the money, plus Gu Xuemei's nutrition expenses, and asked them not to call the police.
Song Ningwei had no intention of calling the police, but he had some brains at this time, knowing that if he called the police, the wine would be completely unsalable. So while Gu Xuemei was recuperating, he drove a small truck around to sell wine to people who didn't know much about it. He knew it was immoral to do so, but he had no choice, he had to get back as much of the money he invested as possible.
When Song Ningwei finished selling the wine and returned home, Gu Xuemei had already been out of confinement for some time, but she seemed to have lost all her energy.
Song Ningwei wanted to comfort her, but he seemed unfamiliar with "comfort". His words made people feel uncomfortable: "Don't be sad. The wine is sold out. It's not a big loss for us. And don't take the matter of the child too seriously. It depends on fate. Next time, when fate comes, maybe he will come again."
After Gu Xuemei heard what he said, she really didn't know what expression to use to respond to him. At this moment, her filter for Song Ningwei finally cracked.
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