"We held a meeting and discussed it. We think you can run the ad, but the price may not be cheap."
Three days later, the newspaper director was still holding his teacup and talking to Liu Meiyu and Yao Shunliu about the results of their meeting.
This was the first time for them to advertise to individual businesses, and there was a lot of opposition during the meeting. However, the director thought that they were a new newspaper with a large initial investment, and it would be good if advertising could increase revenue. This was also an area they were currently researching and exploring.
Besides, current policies also encourage the development of self-employed individuals to allow the general public to solve their own employment problems. Liu Meiyu's clothing store has all the necessary licenses and certificates, and all its goods come from the production lines of state-owned factories. The director thought it was worth a try.
"For seven consecutive days, we can give you a spot on the homepage. The advertising fee is one thousand yuan. If you can accept it, go to the finance department to pay the money and we will issue you an invoice."
The director blew the tea and silently observed the reactions of the two self-employed people out of the corner of his eye. One thousand yuan is not a small amount, it is almost two years' salary for him.
"Thank you, Director. We can accept it. We will pay you later. Thank you so much!"
Liu Meiyu answered very straightforwardly without even thinking. She would be willing to pay even 10,000 yuan, let alone 1,000 yuan. Moreover, this was only a small amount of money for a homepage ad for seven consecutive days, which was really a great deal for her.
Even Yao Shunliu, who is not as knowledgeable as Liu Meiyun, feels that spending a thousand dollars on an advertisement is not expensive at all.
When they held a raffle before the New Year, he asked someone to get a batch of bicycles and hot water kettles that cost more than this price.
Yao Shunliu quickly went to the finance department to pay the money and get the invoice, while Liu Meiyu was in the office discussing the advertising slogan and layout with others.
Liu Meiyun didn't use any fancy words in the advertising slogans, she just kept it simple and straightforward.
So the next day, the advertising slogan "Hua Mei Clothing Store's Spring Collection is on sale on March 15, 25% off for all items!" was put in the middle space of the front page of the newspaper, with the detailed addresses of the two stores and the date of the event below.
It was the first time I saw an advertisement for a self-employed business owner in a newspaper. Even though the sales of the newspaper were not as high as those of major newspapers such as the daily and evening papers, the effect of the seven-day run still caused a lot of discussion about the Huamei Clothing Store in the streets and alleys.
In particular, Liu Meiyun asked the newspaper to magnify the 25% discount and the date in the middle of the advertisement. People who watched it for several days in a row felt as if those numbers were imprinted in their minds.
So before the spring collections were released on March 15, people were already visiting the Huamei Clothing Store every day. However, the clothes hanging on the walls were still unsold winter clothes from last year, and there were no discounts. The clerks said they had to wait until the 15th, so people could only leave disappointed.
"Sister Meiyun, why don't we hang up the clothes for display in advance?"
Seeing another customer walking out of the store shaking his head, Chen Lili couldn't help but ask.
It's only two days away from the 15th, and they haven't got any new items in their store yet. Some customers rode their bicycles from far away to buy at a discounted price, but were told they had to wait two days. They became impatient and some even started to curse.
Chen Lili was afraid that this would have a negative impact on the clothing store.
But Liu Meiyu didn't care.
After all, only a few people are impatient. The event date is published in the newspaper, so it doesn't matter who comes. As for not displaying new products in advance, it is actually a marketing strategy.
As for sales, if you can capture the curiosity of customers, you are already halfway to success, just like the mobile phone brands that regularly release new products every year in later generations.
Of course, if I tell Chen Lili all this now, the little girl may not be able to digest it. She lives in a different era, and the things she comes into contact with and sees are also different. It was still the 1980s, and people probably didn't know how effective an advertisement like that in a newspaper would be.
The effect was so great that when Huamei Clothing Store officially opened on March 15, a long queue formed in front of the door and stretched two blocks away, which really scared every salesperson in the store.
Moreover, there are such spectacular humanoid teams at the entrances of both stores.
The aunts watching the excitement on the streets were also surprised, thinking that Huamei Clothing Store was holding some kind of lucky draw. After all, they were the only store in the area that would do this from time to time. So they asked and found out that spring clothes were on sale and all items were 25% off!
Good guys! 25% off. If I remember correctly, they also had a 20% off discount when they first opened their store!
People who live nearby know that the clothes in Huamei Clothing Store are new in style and good in quality, but they are expensive. Usually, the young people in the family covet the clothes but are reluctant to buy them. Only when the prices are lower during promotions will they be willing to spend a lot of money to buy a set for their children.
As a result, the line became longer and longer, and customers crowded into the Huamei Clothing Store one after another.
"This fake collar is so pretty, how much is it?" As soon as the children entered the store, they were attracted by the various fake collars hanging at the door.
"It's only 6 dollars after the discount." The salesperson replied with a smile.
"Only 6 dollars?" the girls were surprised.
They were all college students from nearby and had come here after reading about it in the newspaper. They had never expected that the "fake collars" sold at Huamei Clothing Store were even better looking than the styles they had asked their friends to bring back from Shanghai. The necklines had different lace and embellishments, the material felt good to the touch, and the workmanship was even better, with tight lines and not a single extra thread end to be found.
So they hurriedly picked two pieces each, but when they turned around, they saw other nice clothes in the store, such as a shirt paired with flared jeans and a small suit jacket on the outside. The more the girls looked, the more reluctant they were to leave.
Since the policy of reform and opening up, people's clothing styles have become more and more diverse. Two years ago, if you walked on the street wearing bell-bottom pants, you would be pointed at, but now bell-bottom pants are everywhere on the street.
Many girls who love beauty and pursue fashion would try to ask relatives and friends to bring them the latest popular styles from Shanghai. However, the clothes sold by Huamei nowadays are not inferior to those in department stores in Shanghai, and some are even more novel and unique.
So overnight, the spring clothes launched by Huamei Clothing Store quickly set off a fashion trend in Beijing. During those few days, there were long queues in front of the store almost every morning when the store opened, and the salespeople in the store were so busy that they had to time going to the restroom. As the boss, Liu Meiyu sold clothes in the store during the day and had to count money and do the accounting after closing the store at night. She was also very busy.
Lu Changzheng loved his wife very much, so he would ride his bike to pick her up every night, otherwise he would feel uneasy.
Sometimes Liu Meiyun was so tired that she would just lean on the man's back and didn't want to talk. Lu Changzheng was afraid that she would fall asleep, so sometimes he had to ride a bicycle with one hand and free up the other hand to protect her.
The security personnel on duty at the gate of the military compound had seen Commander Lu protecting his wife like this more than once or twice. The young soldiers, especially the unmarried ones, were all extremely jealous.
When will it be their turn to ride a bicycle with their partner like this?
On the military playground, Political Commissar Zhou and his wife, who were taking a stroll, just happened to see Lu Changzheng riding a bicycle towards them.
Political Commissar Zhou walked over with his hands behind his back, stopped the man, and said unhappily, "Captain Lu, you two go out and have fun, but you leave your child at our house every day to ruin it, right?"
He was convinced. When they were on the island, the kids there were very naughty. His daughter Tiantian would go up the mountain and climb trees all day and never come home. Now that they have moved to Beijing, he thought he could raise her to be more quiet, but she has to hang out with the three boys of Lu Changzheng's family. Among the four children, the eldest son of the Lu family is more stable, while the remaining Erbao and Xiaobao are more naughty than the other.
Especially Lu Erbao, who always followed his daughter Tiantian around when he was a child on the island. He secretly cooked for his daughter Tiantian and fed her until her face became rounder. Now his old habit remains unchanged. In the afternoon after school, he saw Lu Erbao taking Tiantian to the grocery store and buying her some fruit danpi!
As an old father, Political Commissar Zhou certainly has no good impression of Lu Erbao, a boy who has been able to coax girls since he was young.
He had inquired this morning, and found out that in recent years, Lu Erbao had given snacks to almost every little girl in the compound, not counting those in their school. In short, Political Commissar Zhou felt that among the three boys of the Lu family, only the eldest was more pleasing to the eye.
"Political Commissar Zhou, Sister Xiuying." Liu Meiyu jumped off her bike when she heard the voices. "Did the three of them go to your house to watch the TV again?"
Just as Political Commissar Zhou was about to speak, Wang Xiuying slapped him on the arm and said, "Are you childish?"
"Why would I say anything childish?" Political Commissar Zhou was unconvinced.
Wang Xiuying rolled her eyes at him, feeling embarrassed, and pushed him away. She smiled at Lu Changzheng and his wife and said, "Don't worry about him. He just ate too much and felt full. Dabao and his two brothers are watching TV at my house."
Liu Meiyu frowned after hearing this.
It's been several days now, and she's been watching TV at other people's houses every day. If she were in other people's shoes, she would be annoyed too.
"Did you watch them finish their homework?" Liu Meiyu looked at Lu Changzheng.
During these days when she was busy, the child's studies were left to Lu Changzheng.
Lu Changzheng nodded quickly: "I finished writing it as soon as I came back. I checked it."
How could he dare to slack off on the task assigned by his daughter-in-law?
"Sister-in-law, I'm sorry to bother you. I'll take the person back later."
Liu Meiyu glared at Lu Changzheng. Even if he had finished his homework, he could not be allowed to cause trouble to others every day. Who wouldn't be annoying?
Lu Changzheng lowered his head guiltily and glanced at Political Commissar Zhou. The two of them tacitly looked away.
"Meiyun, don't mind it. My old Zhou is always the one who keeps a close eye on everything. Eight out of ten little boys around Tiantian have been scolded by him."
Wang Xiuying talked to him about this several times, but he refused to change. So he was not annoyed by the triplets from Captain Lu's family coming to his house to make trouble every day. He just didn't like all those naughty boys who surrounded Tiantian and treated her as brothers.
"Haha, sister-in-law, don't explain too much, I know everything."
Liu Meiyu gave Wang Xiuying an expression that said, "I understand.
It's just a daughter slave. If all three of her family were daughters, Lu Changzheng's behavior would probably be even more cruel than Political Commissar Zhou.
The couple pushed their bicycles, turned a corner, and went to the family building to call the three brothers home.
"Mom, can we buy a TV?"
On the way back, Dabao suddenly made a request.
Before Liu Meiyu agreed, Erbao and Xiaobao both nodded in agreement.
Erbao looked filial and thoughtful: "Yes, Mom, please buy us one. The TV series playing now is really good. Grandpa and Grandma Wu can watch it at home."
"Yes, it's much more interesting to watch than to listen!" Lu Xiaobao now tells his grandfather the plot every day when he gets home, and he wants to watch it again when he hears the exciting parts.
Liu Meiyu noticed that the three brothers were always very united and spoke in a very coherent manner whenever they wanted to buy something.
"If you have any problem, just call mom. Why don't you ask your dad to buy one? Do you know how expensive a TV is?"
In the past, there were only a few households in the military compound that bought televisions, but now there are more and more of them.
Two years ago, she wanted to buy one for the old man to relieve his boredom, but the old man seemed to have no interest in that thing. He would stroll around the compound with a radio every day. When his eyes were still good, he would carve wood and make toys for Dabao and others. When he got tired, he would go out to walk the parrot and find time to play chess with old comrades. His life was full of fun and busy, so he had no interest in sitting in front of such a small screen for half a day.
Mother Wu was even more unhappy. She complained that the theater was too shaky when she took her to watch a movie.
So in the past two years, Liu Meiyun bought an electric fan, a washing machine, and a refrigerator for her home, but she never bought a TV.
"My dad has no money." Lu Erbao glanced at his father and spoke up for him: "He doesn't even dare to hide his private money, how can he have money to buy a TV for us?"
"I don't need it! Not that I don't dare!"
Lu Changzheng pushed his bicycle and tried to defend himself angrily. But as soon as he finished speaking, his second son complained to Liu Meiyun with a gloomy face: "Oh~ Mom, did you hear that? My dad said he dared to hide his private money behind your back."
“…”
"But don't worry, mom. Your smartest, most thoughtful, filial, and lovable second son will always stand by you and help you monitor Comrade Lu. If he dares to hide private money behind your back, as your beloved son, I will definitely uphold justice and be upright and will be the first to stand up and expose him!"
Lu Erbao had a face full of calculations and kept talking non-stop, which made Liu Meiyu feel angry, funny and sympathetic.
Of course, sympathy is only for Comrade Lu Changzheng.
Lu Changzheng, who was tricked by his second son, was so angry that he couldn't hold back. He grabbed Lu Erbao and demanded to exercise his right as a father to beat his son. Anyway, his wife said that the three in our family are particularly good at cheating their father. If he really couldn't get angry enough, he could treat them to fried bamboo shoots with meat, since he had thick buttocks.
"Dad, a gentleman uses his words, not his fists."
Lu Erbao was a step slow in reacting and was grabbed by Lu Changzheng by the collar. He quickly winked at Dabao and Xiaobao, but the three brothers were in tacit understanding and united in the previous second, and the next second Lu Dabao and Lu Xiaobao pretended not to see it and distanced themselves from the matter.
"I'm not a gentleman, I'm your father!"
Lu Changzheng slapped his second son on the buttocks with a loud slap, and was furious: "You even sold out your own father just to watch TV! Comrade Lu, call me another name?"
"Dad, I was wrong! I was just trying to make my mom happy!"
Lu Erbao was as slippery as a loach in Lu Changzheng's hands. It would have been fine if he didn't say anything, but once he started talking, Lu Changzheng got even angrier.
"You're trying to make your mom happy and making fun of your dad. So your mom is the only one who's born to you, and I'm the successor, right?"
Lu Erbao covered his buttocks, rolled his eyes, and defended himself loudly: "No, Dad, don't you always make my mom happy? You also said that if my mom is happy, you will be happy. Then I just imitated you. Don't you mean what you said before?"
"My mother is happy, aren't you happy?" Lu Erbao asked a soul-searching question.
Lu Changzheng felt a cool breeze on his back. He subconsciously looked at his wife and took the opportunity to break free from his arms. Seeing that his elder brother and younger brother could not be relied on, and his father seemed to be furious with him, he ran home quickly to get help!
Liu Meiyu watched as the four fathers and sons kept on making such a scene day after day, with good brothers "betraying each other" and fathers and sons "turning against each other". She thought, isn't this much more exciting than watching a TV drama?
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