Fang San's storefront is almost ready. His friend made a special trip to Guangzhou, where there are several factories that supply goods that are just as good as what they have here, and it's easier to get the goods there. Once his friend comes back and replenishes the stock, they can open for business.
There's a store that specializes in selling home appliances. The radio inside plays pop music constantly, and the TV is on whenever there's a program on. Best of all, the store has a refrigerator that keeps things cool. They make ice cream with it, and anyone who wants to try some can go in and take one.
Although it's not hot yet, not the season for ice cream, it feels especially fresh when you eat it now. The best part is, it's free, so you can eat as much as you want without worrying about getting an upset stomach.
Although it wasn't officially open yet, the store's doors had been open since early morning. Locals loved to join the fun, often going in to browse. Even if they couldn't buy anything, just looking around was enjoyable.
Li Yumei was bored at home with nothing to do, so when she went out to buy groceries, she heard someone talking about it and decided to go and join in the fun.
As soon as they entered, they overheard Fan Tao's wife pointing to a young girl beside her and saying to Xu Keke, "This is my sister-in-law's little cousin. She hasn't been in the city for very long and wanted to work as a temporary worker in a factory, but they said there weren't any openings and they wouldn't let her apply. Do you see if there's anything she can do in this shop? If not, it's okay, my brother-in-law's family is opening a restaurant, and she can help out there. It's just that she likes this place and insisted on dragging me here to ask around."
The little girl had a cheerful appearance, with two small dimples on either side of her mouth, making her smile quite pretty. It was also said that she was in her second year of high school, but dropped out because her younger brother was a better student and she wanted to support him through university. Xu Keke thought she was quite capable and spoke clearly, so she called Fang San over.
The idea of opening the shop, playing music, and letting people eat ice cream for free was all Xu Keke's. It attracted a lot of people; even before the shop officially opened, people were already inquiring about prices and looking at the goods. It was more popular than a department store. After learning how much money they had invested, Xu Keke even gave them what was supposedly her dowry money. Even the idea of going to Guangzhou to source small appliances was told to them by Xu Keke.
Fang San now listens to Xu Keke in everything. Hearing from Xu Keke that the girl seemed nice, he agreed and took in this girl named Tao Min, making her a sales clerk in the store.
Xu Keke told Tao Min that the shop's employees receive commissions in addition to their salaries. Once all the goods arrive, they will calculate how much each item sells and how much commission she receives.
The girl named Tao Min was incredibly excited when she heard this. Even Fan Tao's wife said that she wanted to close her family's small shop and become a sales clerk herself.
Li Yumei, hiding behind others, watched with tears welling up in her eyes. Once Xu Keke was alone, she picked up her vegetable basket and walked towards her, calling out, "Sister-in-law... Sister-in-law."
Xu Keke knew who it was without even looking.
"Don't call me sister-in-law, your brother and I are just one step away from getting married."
Li Yumei lowered her head slightly, looking shy, and said, "Then I'll still call you Sister Tingting. I've called you Sister Tingting since I first came here."
"Don't call me 'sister' anymore, just call me Du Wenting. What can I do for you? Or is there something you want to buy?" After saying this, Xu Keke called Tao Min over, "Perfect timing, someone wants to buy something, you can familiarize yourself with the work first."
"No, I'm not buying anything. Sister Tingting, you're not a teacher anymore, are you? You're selling things here now."
Xu Keke laughed, "You're quite concerned about me. Our school organized a spring outing, and teachers can take leave. So I came to check on things at the store. I'm one of the partners in this store. Do you have any other questions?"
"What's a partner? You're basically a boss, right? Are you still hiring? I'd like to work here too."
"We're not hiring anymore right now. We just hired one more person, so we're now fully staffed."
Li Yumei rolled her eyes at Tao Min, "Then, Sister Tingting, you can let her go, and use me instead."
Xu Keke felt that Li Yumei didn't seem very bright. "Why? Putting aside the order of arrival, what makes you better than her?"
"I'm prettier than her."
“But she’s not my former sister-in-law.” After saying this, Xu Keke walked away.
Li Yumei was about to chase after them when Fan Tao's wife stopped her, saying, "Li girl, how can you still be like this? You're shameless enough to not even hide your bad deeds. You keep calling her 'sister-in-law.' But who is Xiao Yujie to you?"
Most of the people who came were neighbors from the surrounding area, and they all knew about the affair between the Li and Xiao families. Fan Tao's wife also had a good relationship with everyone in the area.
The cacophony of voices brought Li Yumei to tears. She grabbed her shopping basket and ran home, closing the door to fuss over it. Ever since Du Wenting and Li Shaojie decided to divorce, she no longer disliked Du Wenting. Now, her greatest hatred was for Xiao Yujie.
Even on their wedding night, Li Shaojie would stay in his room for her. Now, this Xiao Yujie is shameless; they're not even married yet, and they're sleeping together every day.
To curry favor with Xiao Yujie, Li Guodong and Lu Cuihua both showed her favoritism. They even made Du Wenting cook and do laundry for them. Although they hadn't protected her before, they had always found ways to order Du Wenting around.
Li Yumei became increasingly angry, so angry that she didn't even cook dinner.
Li Guodong and Lu Cuihua were afraid their son would resent them for staying at home all the time without earning any money. So, under the pretense of going out to find work, they would wander around until dark before returning home.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw my son and Xiao Yumei standing there, knocking on the door of Li Yumei's room.
"What's wrong?" Li Guodong asked his son.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with Yu Mei. She won’t answer when I knock on her door. There’s no food cooked at home, not even a cup of hot water.” Li Shaojie glanced at his father. “Where have you and Mom been? Why are you only coming back now? We’ve already finished get off work.”
"Your mother and I went to find work," Li Guodong said somewhat guiltily, turning the hat on his head.
Li Shaojie: "Looking for work? What kind of work? Last time I saw you watching people play cards over at the bridge. This family depends on Yumei. What can she do at such a young age?"
"Shaojie, how can you talk to your uncle like that? Yumei is nineteen already. What can't she do? I think she does it quite well. She's also very diligent. If she doesn't do the housework, what else can you expect the elderly to do?" Xiao Yujie couldn't stand seeing Li Shaojie defend Li Yumei. To prevent the two of them from getting together, she now takes leave from the hospital every day to pick Li Shaojie up from get off work.
When Lu Cuihua heard that no food had been cooked, she was worried that her son would go hungry. So she went straight to the kitchen without even going inside.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yujie, who doesn't usually go into the kitchen, didn't notice when she went in and kicked a basin of water on the floor, spilling it everywhere. Lu Cuihua had been wandering around outside all day, not even eating lunch outside, and was tired and hungry. She wasn't expecting it and slipped and fell to the ground.
Upon hearing Lu Cuihua's screams, Li Guodong and Li Shaojie rushed to the kitchen. Even Li Yumei opened the door.
Lu Cuihua fell hard and couldn't get up from the ground.
Xiao Yujie moved in and brought her bicycle with her. The group quickly pushed the bicycle and took Lu Cuihua to the affiliated hospital.
Coincidentally, Fang Minghui was on duty in the emergency room today.
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