"Yes, Aunt Yan is going to buy groceries?" Jiang Qiaoqiao replied with a smile.
Yan Suhua smiled and said, "I'm not going to buy groceries. I'll go visit Fengxia."
Jiang Qiaoqiao could tell that Yan Suhua's smile was somewhat forced when she said this.
Thinking back to when Xie Fengxia got married, she bought a red dress and a pair of stirrup pants from her. Moreover, when Aunt Zhao caused trouble before, Aunt Xie also helped her a lot.
She asked, "Aunt Yan, is Fengxia's in-laws treating her well?"
Yan Suhua's gaze visibly darted away, and she nodded somewhat flusteredly, saying, "Okay, everything's fine. Qiaoqiao, you go ahead and get busy, Auntie's leaving now."
Jiang Qiaoqiao watched Yan Suhua hurriedly ride away on her bicycle and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
She thought that Yan Suhua had deliberately come over to greet her today because she wanted to ask her or Huo Beixiao for help.
If Xie Fengxia is not doing well in her husband's family, if they could arrange a job for Xie Fengxia's husband or for Xie Fengxia herself, her status in her husband's family would be greatly improved.
She just didn't expect that Yan Suhua would simply greet her and then leave.
After Yan Suhua left, they rode their bikes past the big banyan tree in the yard.
Since Aunt Zhao stopped living in the courtyard, the area under the banyan tree isn't as lively as it used to be.
However, today was a bit more lively than usual, as the other two morning glory flowers in the courtyard, Yang Hongying and You Dongyun, were both under the big banyan tree.
Upon seeing Jiang Qiaoqiao, Yang Hongying immediately greeted her with a beaming smile and asked, "Qiaoqiao, your shop was packed with people yesterday. Business was booming. You must have made a lot of money, right?"
Before Jiang Qiaoqiao could answer, You Dongyun, who was standing to the side, said in a drawn-out voice, "Of course! They've already calculated it. Based on Qiaoqiao's shop's business yesterday, they must have sold at least that many units!"
As You Dongyun spoke, she held up two fingers.
Yang Hongying asked in surprise, "Two thousand yuan?"
"What two thousand yuan? It's twenty thousand!" You Dongyun glanced at Yang Hongying with disdain.
You Dongyun had a loud voice and drew out her words, so not only the people sitting under the banyan tree heard her, but many people riding by on bicycles also stopped.
Yang Hongying's eyes widened in shock. "Twenty...twenty thousand? My God, our whole family couldn't save twenty thousand even if we didn't eat or drink for ten years! Qiaoqiao, this isn't just a clothing store, it's a money tree!"
Although Jiang Qiaoqiao didn't like the two of them being so loud, she still smiled politely and said, "Sister-in-law You and Sister-in-law Yang are joking. My clothing store had a promotion yesterday, and we sold quite a lot, but we sold them cheaply, so we didn't make much profit. We just wanted to attract customers."
"If you two sisters-in-law are free today, you are welcome to come and browse the store. We are still having a discount today."
"It's getting late, so I won't chat with you two sisters-in-law any longer. I'll be going now!" Jiang Qiaoqiao said, secretly pinching the soft flesh on Huo Beixiao's waist to signal him to leave.
Yang Hongying was a little anxious and wanted to call out to Jiang Qiaoqiao.
But before she could speak, You Dongyun spoke first, saying sourly, "Oh dear, now that her husband is a boss and she's a boss herself, why would she bother talking to us ordinary folks?"
As soon as You Dongyun said those words, the women under the banyan tree looked at her differently.
Before she could say anything more, they all made excuses and left.
Yang Hongying looked at You Dongyun as if she were a fool, and then quickly turned to leave.
You Dongyun stopped her, "Hongying, they're all so opportunistic and trying to curry favor with Jiang Qiaoqiao. You're not going to try to curry favor with Jiang Qiaoqiao too, are you?"
Yang Hongying glanced at her speechlessly, "I didn't mean to flatter her. But the couple bought the factory and opened the shop and earned their money through their own efforts. I'm not jealous of them, and you shouldn't say anything sarcastic about them in front of me in the future."
Yang Hongying had just wanted to take the opportunity to ask Jiang Qiaoqiao if she needed to hire anyone since her shop was doing so well.
Everything was ruined by that idiot You Dongyun, so naturally he's not giving her a friendly look now.
She ran into Zheng Yulan on the street a couple of days ago. When Zheng Yulan was with Wang Dacheng, she was being suppressed by Aunt Zhao. She was so thin that she barely had any flesh on her body, and her hands were like chicken claws. She couldn't afford a new set of clothes for several years.
She looks incredibly plump and healthy, almost ten years younger, and her clothes are all brand new, without a single patch.
And Xiao Guoqing was also dressed in nice clothes, and the schoolbag he carried was the latest style they had ever seen in their small county.
Why does Zheng Yulan, a divorced woman, deserve to live such a good life?
It's all because she got involved with Jiang Qiaoqiao, and Jiang Qiaoqiao was willing to help her.
Then look at Aunt Zhao, who used to oppose Jiang Qiaoqiao; we don't even know where her only son, Wang Dacheng, is now.
The elderly couple couldn't afford to live in the staff compound, so they had to go back to their dilapidated house in their hometown and live off Grandpa Wang's meager pension.
With such vivid examples right in front of her, if she were still talking behind Jiang Qiaoqiao's back and going against Jiang Qiaoqiao, wouldn't she be a fool?
Watching Yang Hongying's departing figure, You Dongyun spat angrily, "Pah! You think you're so high and mighty just because you don't say anything sarcastic! If you want to be someone's lackey, you should at least see if they'd even look down on you!"
*
Jiang Qiaoqiao was unaware of the quarrels taking place in the compound.
When she arrived at the store, Zhou Yang and Luo Yingzi had already opened the door. The two of them diligently mopped the floor and cleaned the store spotlessly.
It was still early, and there weren't many people around.
Jiang Qiaoqiao told them to go eat breakfast first, while she stayed at the shop.
Huo Beixiao was going to the construction site in the provincial capital today to keep an eye on things. Before leaving, he told her, "I told Guo Tao to keep watch near your shop. If anything happens, just tell him."
Listening to his incessant nagging, Jiang Qiaoqiao felt somewhat helpless. "You're not even old yet, and you're already starting to nag."
"Alright, alright, you should leave now. It's broad daylight, the world is clear, what could possibly happen if I just stay in the shop?"
But Jiang Qiaoqiao didn't expect that Huo Beixiao would have a bit of a jinx.
No sooner had she left than Jiang Jiahua arrived with Peng Cuiying and Jiang Yiran.
When Jiang Jiahua saw her, he immediately stepped forward with a smile and stuffed a brown paper bag into her hand. "Qiaoqiao, your mother told your father about borrowing money to open a shop yesterday."
You know your parents have spent almost all the money they've saved over the years in the last six months. Here's 10,000 yuan that your dad scraped together last night. Take it and use it to pay off some of the loan sharks…”
Jiang Qiaoqiao looked at Jiang Jiahua, who seemed like a loving father who doted on his daughter, and wondered what they were up to.
She suddenly remembered that Huo Beixiao had told her yesterday that Peng Cuiying had brought Jiang Yiran to the store, but they were stopped by Guo Tao before they even entered.
It must have been when Guo Tao stopped them from going back that he used the same excuse as last time.
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