Chapter 137 Opening Flower Basket
The roommate didn't get a response from Ji Mingyue, and couldn't help but sneer at the others. Since school started, she has always been alone during every holiday, afraid that others would say they were isolating her. They took the initiative to find topics to talk about with her, hoping that she could integrate into this big group, but now it seems that she obviously disdains to fit in.
For Ji Mingyue, the most important thing was who she could capture. The other people in the dormitory weren't her targets, so she said indifferently, "I don't really care for these things. Although this factory is in Yuncheng, it's probably not very well-known. I rarely hear people mention it."
"Really?" The roommate stared at the hairband in her hand. There were also people from Yuncheng in her class. People said that Tongqu Players was very famous in Yuncheng and that they had even opened a branch in Jingshi. People in Yuncheng were very proud when they mentioned this factory, but why did it seem so unworthy of mentioning in her mouth?
"Yeah, they just added this to the original hairband, but the price is much higher. They really know how to make money." Ji Mingyue originally wanted to say that this was just an IQ tax, but finally held back.
"Although it's overpriced, it still costs money, so the premium is reasonable, right?" The person who spoke was a little unhappy. What was that look in Ji Mingyue's eyes? Was she mocking them?
"Everyone has their own preferences. Xiaoxiao, didn't you say you wanted to go to the canteen? Let's go." The dormitory head interrupted the topic. Soon, Ji Mingyue was the only one left in the dormitory. Ji Mingyue was happy and comfortable. She was thinking about how to ask Lu Jiaze out after he left school in ten days.
"I don't know why Ji Mingyue is so arrogant. It seems like she is the only smart person in our dormitory!" Xiaoxiao said a little unhappy after leaving the dormitory.
"Maybe she simply doesn't like meows and the others. If she doesn't like them, then she doesn't like them. No one is begging her to like them." Someone tried to smooth things over.
"She's not the one who dislikes them. She's completely belittling people who like them. I even suspect she has a grudge against the people who play Tongqu!" Xiaoxiao's tone was still unwavering.
"Then let's not tell her this next time. She disappears every weekend anyway. It's not us isolating her, but she is isolating us. If someone asks about it in the future, we will be the one who is right." Someone else spoke up.
"Okay, since she doesn't think highly of us, we don't have to rush over every time." Everyone relaxed when they thought that they wouldn't have to worry about Ji Mingyue's feelings in the future.
Before enrolling, Lu Jiaze had been briefed on the intensity of daily training in the army, but even after arriving at the school, he still felt a little uncomfortable. Perhaps it sounded hypocritical, but he was actually quite afraid of being alone. Knowing Ji Mingyue was in Nanshi was one thing, meeting her was another. Perhaps it was due to unfamiliarity with the local climate, but within a month of arriving in Nanshi, Lu Jiaze had fallen ill three times. The first two times, he went to the hospital alone. The third time, he ran into Ji Mingyue in the registration hall. Normally, he would have found her noisy, but that day, he suddenly felt that a little noise was actually quite good. At least with someone familiar around, hearing a familiar voice, it made him feel like he was still at home. That day, she had run around for him, even delaying her own doctor's appointment. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty, so when she asked to go back together during National Day, he didn't refuse. He thought, in the unfamiliar Nanshi, she had helped him when he was most vulnerable, and he was deeply grateful, which led to their subsequent contact.
Of course, he had taken Qiu Shaoli's reminder to heart. He wasn't a fool, and he naturally knew what Ji Mingyue's kindness to him was all about. Perhaps because someone sick was particularly vulnerable, he didn't refuse her approach. But she seemed to have misunderstood his meaning, so this time, although he accepted the dried meat she sent him, he didn't plan to go out with her. During this rare vacation, he wanted to go out and take a walk on his own. Although the school rarely allowed him to go out, he would spend the next four years here, and he had to get familiar with it.
There are many universities in Nanshi, and he met many people from other schools on the streets in the city center. Occasionally, he heard the girls in front of him mention the words "Tongqu Player". He also saw that the pendants on their bags were very familiar. If he remembered correctly, this should be a product of Jiang Lili's factory. He was surprised but also felt it was reasonable. Her ambition never stopped, so it was normal for their products to be sold in Nanshi. Returning to the identity of a normal friend, he no longer had the anxiety that he could not keep up with her pace, and he was sincerely happy for her. He stared at the meow pendant on the bag in front of him and curled the corners of his lips. It seemed that her wish to open a branch factory in Nanshi would soon come true.
*
Cheng Yuntian and her team had not anticipated the sudden popularity of the hair ties and hair clips. They had originally thought that the price would discourage many people, after all, there were cheaper ones there for comparison, and they had already prepared for average sales. However, they never expected that not only boutiques of all sizes in Beijing would be popular, but boutiques from other places also came specifically to get the goods. The dolls on the authentic ones were more exquisite, and everyone paid for them for the three little ones, and were unwilling to buy inferior imitations to save a little money.
"In addition to hairbands, orders for photo keychains and pendants are steadily increasing. Even orders from Quan City are increasing." Cheng Yuntian's tone was filled with pride that he himself was not aware of.
"It seems that Meow and the others have conquered many people with their cuteness." Although Jiang Lili had imagined such an outcome when she first created the IP, she still found it hard to believe it when the day finally came.
"What's that expression on your face? Have you forgotten the bold words you said back then?" Cheng Yuntian remembered that when she said she wanted to create an IP, she had rejected her idea in her heart, but it turned out that she was too shallow. She thought, this was just the beginning.
"Of course I still remember it. This should be considered the beginning of glory." Thinking of the joint signature in later generations, Jiang Lili had a new idea.
"Jointly named?" Cheng Yuntian's tone was filled with doubt.
"Yes, taking advantage of everyone's love for them, we can cooperate with the clothing industry, footwear industry, and even bags and stationery industry to launch joint products." Jiang Lili nodded.
"I understand what you mean. You mean we authorize them to print the pattern of the three little ones, and they pay us?" Cheng Yuntian tried to explain the joint name she mentioned using his own understanding.
"Yes, that's what you mean. This way, more people will know about Meow." Jiang Lili nodded.
"It sounds good. Should we take the initiative to find others, or wait for them to come to us?" Cheng Yuntian was a little hesitant. If they took the initiative, wouldn't it be too cheap?
"That depends on what your goal is." After saying this, Jiang Lili didn't say anything else. Cheng Yuntian on the other end looked thoughtful when he heard this.
Because of the increase in new orders at the factory and her previous misunderstanding, she and Lu Hongzhe hadn't seen each other for almost a week. This weekend was obviously unavoidable. Jiang Liangbo invited her and her daughter to dinner at his new home. His parents had already come to Beijing in advance, so Jiang Lili and Jiang Yulan had been discussing what to bring to his house.
"Just bring some fruits." After choosing for a while, Jiang Lili still couldn't find anything suitable, so she said in frustration.
"I heard that his parents also brought his little niece here, so it would be nice to prepare an extra set of toys." Jiang Yulan said as she began to think about what toys would be better to bring.
"You are more informed than me." Jiang Lili said with a smile.
"We met in the cafeteria yesterday, so let's just give him toys and fruits. Expensive gifts are a burden." Thinking of the refrigerator Cheng Yuntian gave her, Jiang Yulan looked forward to finding an opportunity to return the favor, otherwise she would always feel uncomfortable.
"Well, let's do as you say. Don't worry, Sister Cheng's house has already started to be renovated, and you will have a chance to return the favor soon." Knowing that she was thinking about this, Jiang Lili said with a smile.
"That's good." Jiang Yulan breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon it was Jiang Liangbo's dinner day. The mother and daughter had returned to Huajianlouji early yesterday. Besides meeting an appointment, she had come to check on the renovations of the shop below. This was her second time working with the renovation team, so her frequency of visiting the construction site to check on the progress had halved. She took Jiang Yulan's arm and walked inside. Construction had been underway for nearly half a month, and the place still looked a mess. Jiang Lili, relying on her memory of the design drawings, introduced it to Jiang Yulan beside her, "That's the ocean ball area, and that's the slide area. I originally wanted to add a sand play area, but later canceled it."
"It should be cancelled. Who would pay to take their children to play in the sand? Is that the parent waiting area?" Jiang Yulan pointed to the location over there.
"Yes, we will ship some things over from Quan City. There are some good drinks there." Jiang Lili talked about her plan.
"Is there a charge?" Jiang Yulan was more concerned about this.
"Of course I charge. If I don't, I will lose money. Sometimes the whole family brings their children here to kill time." Especially parents who are tired of walking around nearby, coming here, the children have a place to play, they can not only rest but also free their hands. If tea and drinks are free, she will lose money like crazy.
"That's true." Jiang Yulan quickly looked away after she finished speaking. She was actually a little worried that parents would be unwilling to spend the money to let their children play, but she also felt that her old-fashioned ideas were not suitable for today's young people.
After seeing the decoration of the shop downstairs, the mother and daughter returned to their new home. They had already agreed to install the telephone, which they would do before coming here during the winter vacation. Since they would not be living here long term, they would not need it for the time being.
Lu Hongzhe came here with Lu Ziming. Before coming, they went to the Tongqu Players' place. Only then did they find out that the mother and daughter had already left early. Lu Ziming chuckled, "Old Lu, have you offended Lili? You left early and didn't even tell us?"
"You have a rich imagination, but can't others have their own business?" Lu Hongzhe asked back, but only he knew in his heart that he didn't offend her, but scared her.
Lu Ziming sneered: "Come on, why are you still pretending in front of me? Your intentions towards Lili are not simple."
"You figured it out?" Lu Hongzhe was a little surprised.
"I'm not blind. You're almost writing your thoughts on your face. How can I not know?" Lu Ziming said and rolled his eyes at him.
"Is it so obvious?" Lu Hongzhe was a little surprised. He thought he had done it secretly enough. After all, Lili had just started college.
"What else? Except for that idiot Jiang Liangbo, everyone else can see it, okay? That's not right. I think Aunt Jiang doesn't seem to think in this direction." Lu Ziming said with some confusion.
"Our two families have known each other since childhood. Perhaps in her eyes, my behavior is the care of an acquaintance." The older generation has pure thoughts and probably doesn't think in this direction.
"Then you will probably have a hard time dealing with your parents in the future." Lu Ziming guessed.
"No." Lu Hongzhe's tone was full of confidence. He remembered that his parents praised Jiang Lili more than himself. Didn't his mother always regret that such a good girl was reserved in advance by his second aunt? As for Aunt Jiang, he felt that he was more trustworthy than Lu Jiaze.
"Then I wish you good luck." Lu Ziming said without any sincerity.
"Lili has just started college. It's too early to talk about this. I can't be too hasty." After Lu Hongzhe finished speaking, he glanced at the person next to him. This sentence was both an explanation and a warning.
"Got it. Please drive quickly. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to make others wait for us."
Lu Ziming obviously didn't expect his words to come true. They were indeed the last to arrive. As soon as they knocked on the door, Jiang Liangbo, who opened it, complained, "What are you two doing? Why are you so late?"
"There was a traffic jam over there." Lu Hongzhe made up an excuse.
"Okay, come in quickly." After saying that, he shouted towards the living room: "Mom, it's time to cook."
Compared to the last time Jiang Lili and the others came, Jiang Liangbo invited fewer people this time. Apart from his parents and the little niece he brought with him, there were Jiang Lili and her daughter, and the two people who were late just now.
"Lili, I heard from the security guard at your factory that you and Aunt Jiang came here yesterday?" Lu Ziming sat down next to Jiang Lili.
"Yes, I came here early to check on the progress of the shop. Did you go to the factory to find us?" Jiang Lili was a little surprised.
"Didn't Old Lu drive the car? I thought of bringing you here, but I didn't expect to be disappointed." Lu Ziming said.
"I forgot to tell you in advance, sorry." Jiang Lili said and glanced at the person sitting over there.
"It's just a matter of convenience. Don't listen to his nonsense. Go to the kitchen and help." Lu Hongzhe said the last sentence to Lu Ziming.
"I can't go alone, you have to come with me." Lu Ziming smiled and hit his shoulder, then went to the kitchen. But in just a few seconds, he was kicked out.
Lu Hongzhe glanced at the little girl playing with toys next to Jiang Lili and asked softly, "Is this a new product from your factory?"
"Not really. They're from a few months ago, but they're only sold here in Beijing." He wasn't a potential customer, so it was normal that he didn't notice these things.
"So that's how it is. I guess we have to wait until my parents come over for the first meal in my new home. Then you and Aunt Jiang should remember to come and liven things up." The two of them lived upstairs and downstairs, which was more convenient than other people.
"I guess it's winter vacation. My grandpa, uncle and their family will come over then. It looks like this year's New Year's celebration will be very lively." Jiang Lili said, already looking forward to it.
"Will the indoor amusement park downstairs open before the Chinese New Year?" Lu Hongzhe asked casually.
"If everything goes well, we will open during the winter vacation. However, our current occupancy rate is not too high. I guess there will be more people after the New Year," Jiang Lili analyzed.
"That should be the case. I observed that there is a kindergarten two kilometers away. I think there are a lot of children around here." Lu Hongzhe hoped that she would no longer have to worry about the source of customers.
"Having a kindergarten nearby is also one of the conditions for me to choose a location." Originally, she wanted to choose a house closer to the kindergarten, but there were no more suitable houses available.
"It seems that you have done market research." Lu Hongzhe said with a faint smile on his lips.
"Of course, I learned a lesson before, so I have to be prepared this time." Thinking of what happened before, the smile on Jiang Lili's face faded a lot.
"No one's success is smooth sailing. There is growth only when there are setbacks." After Lu Hongzhe said this, he originally planned to reach out and touch her head, but thinking that his directness seemed to have scared her last time, he quickly retracted his half-extended hand.
"You too?" Jiang Lili was a little curious. Ever since she started college, she had heard a lot of "legends" about the three of them on campus, but judging from his tone, it seemed that there were many unknown stories?
"Of course, things were not smooth at the beginning. We even broke up once." Lu Hongzhe mentioned the past with a faint smile on his face. Looking back on it now, the things that seemed difficult at the time felt that they were not that difficult.
Jiang Lili listened attentively until Lu Ziming came out of the kitchen and reminded her, "It's time to eat, both of you."
"I'll be right there." For some reason, Jiang Lili felt embarrassed even though it was just a very ordinary sentence.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yulan had already started chatting with Jiang Liangbo's parents, looking quite happy. Seeing this, Jiang Lili couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Brother Jiang, are you planning to bring his parents over?"
"Probably not. He has an older brother who is five years older than him. He is the father of this little girl. The uncles and aunts have to help take care of the child. Besides this time, they should come again during the Chinese New Year." Lu Hongzhe remembered that Jiang Liangbo had mentioned it once before.
"It seems that it will be very lively to stay in Beijing to celebrate the New Year this year." From what he said, it seems that Brother Jiang Liangbo and his family will also come to Beijing to celebrate the New Year.
"It will be really lively." He has already persuaded his parents and grandfather to come together, but his second uncle's family has not yet decided and most likely will not be able to come.
After dinner, Lu Ziming mentioned the renovation of Jiang Lili’s shop downstairs, so a group of people went downstairs to see the progress of the renovation of the indoor amusement park.
Jiang Lili said with a bit of a smile: "All you can see now is a mess. I'll invite you to come and visit after the decoration is completed." As she said that, she opened the roller shutter door outside to let them see the mess inside.
Lu Hongzhe's eyes fell on the rolling door, and he suggested in a gentle voice: "Perhaps it would be more attractive to replace it with a glass door?"
"Yes, there will be a glass sliding door inside." Jiang Lili nodded, indicating that both are indispensable.
"If you have extra budget, you can look at other shops in advance to facilitate the opening of the second chain store. According to my observation, housing prices in Beijing are rising steadily every year." Lu Hongzhe offered his suggestion.
Jiang Lili didn't say anything. She had thought about this question a long time ago. The question was, did she not want to buy it? No, it was because she didn't have enough money. She had invested all her spare money in this store, hoping to earn back her capital within a year.
Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was a little awkward for a moment. It wasn't until she heard Jiang Yulan next to her talking about the ocean that she stepped forward to explain, "It's an ocean ball, Mom. There's also a small swing over here. It's suitable for children under three years old."
"This is better than kindergarten. If there is such a place at home, I guess many people would like to go there." Jiang Liangbo's mother said with envy.
"That's not necessarily true. Some people would rather take their children out to play in the mud." Jiang Liangbo's father gave a different opinion.
"Then wait for your daughter-in-law to scold you to death, you old thing." Jiang's mother snorted coldly after saying this. She thought she was still living in the old times.
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Jiang Liangbo looked at his parents helplessly: "Mom and Dad, you can quarrel over a hypothetical question. Let's go and look somewhere else."
Jiang Lili quickly lowered her head to hide her emotions. If the marriage ended up like this, it would not be of any benefit.
After the day was over, Jiang Lili became extremely busy. In addition to the decoration of the shop, the equipment in the store also needed to be purchased in advance. She also planned to put three standing dolls of Miaowu and the other three little ones at the door. Of course, the size of these three little ones must be large enough, and everyone must know that this was authorized by the Tongqu players.
Jiang Lili didn't expect that when she mentioned other collaborations before, she would be the first to take advantage of Miaowu's traffic. In addition to the large dolls at the door, there would be many elements related to them in the store. Cheng Yuntian had no objection to this. After all, she also participated in the investment. Although it was just a small store now, she inexplicably believed that Jiang Lili could make good use of them.
From decoration to preparation, and then to all the children's toys and equipment inside, Jiang Lili spent almost half a year, and finally prepared everything before the beginning of winter vacation. As for the opening date, Jiang Yulan had her own insistence. She specially asked someone to calculate the opening date. Jiang Lili actually had no objection to this. After all, she also wanted to ask someone to calculate an auspicious day.
Jiang Lili thought the grand opening was just a small matter, but Jiang Liangbo was the most excited. "We definitely can't miss such a great day as the grand opening. Tell us the time so we can join in the fun."
Lu Ziming also echoed this. Seeing this, Jiang Lili smiled and said, "What a coincidence! It happens to be the day we officially start our winter vacation. Since no one is going back to their hometowns for the New Year, why not have some fun together!"
Soon the day of the indoor amusement park's opening arrived. Early in the morning, Jiang Lili received the opening flower basket they sent. She didn't really care about such a ceremony, but when she saw Jiang Yulan next to her, she seemed very happy, and she smiled too. Until Jiang Yulan waved at her: "Lili, look."
Jiang Lili followed her gaze and soon discovered that a pair of these flower baskets were sent by Song Zhenzhen.
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