Early the next morning, Li Guifang pushed open the door of Guifangzhai and saw Zhang Fengzhi already kneading dough there.
In the morning light, the bruises under her eyes were particularly obvious. If you didn’t know, you would think she had been punched twice!
"Fengzhi," Li Guifang reached out to take the wash basin from her hand, "why don't you go back and rest today?"
Zhang Fengzhi shook her head, her hands still moving: "Why are you taking a break? Aren't we going to try a new style today? I'm here to help you!"
She kneaded the dough vigorously, lye splashing on her apron. "As soon as I close my eyes, I think back to last night's bad memories. I might as well get back to work."
Li Guifang sighed and added some firewood to the stove. The firelight reflected Zhang Fengzhi's haggard face, and the dark circles under her eyes became more obvious.
"Then don't be so stubborn,"
Li Guifang handed over a bowl of hot soy milk and said, "Let Da Laba do more work later."
She pointed at Zhang Fengzhi's hands and said, "Your hands are shaking like sieves. Don't add too much alkali."
——
The sun on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month was shining warmly on the facade of Guifangzhai. The red lanterns hanging in front of the shop had not been taken down yet, and the ears of corn were swaying in the wind.
There was a sign outside with "Lantern Festival Specials" written on it, but it had faded a little from being wet by the rain.
Li Guifang was picking up the unsold Yuanxiao from yesterday's sale in the cabinet. There were still some left, some with sesame filling and some with peanut filling.
As she was coding, she kept muttering, "Once the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is over, it will be hard to sell Yuanxiao dumplings..."
As soon as he straightened up, he saw the kid from the Ji family. He was hiding behind the electric pole opposite, with his cotton hat pulled down low, so that only his two eyes were exposed and he was peeking out, acting sneaky.
Li Guifang went out reluctantly, muttering "What a good time to pick."
He casually pulled out a big red paper with "Lantern Festival Clearance Sale" written on it from under the counter.
When she passed by the store, she casually slapped the new red paper on the old advertisement.
The words on the old red paper have not been completely covered up, and the two "Yuan" characters overlapped each other, which was funny and confusing.
Never mind, if the photo is not good, I’ll take it again next time!
"Hey, that kid from the Ji family," Li Guifang said, picking up the broomstick that was leaning against the door. "You're standing guard here in the middle of the New Year?"
Ji Zhan took two steps forward, his new cotton shoes squeaking on the snow. "Aunt Guifang...my brother asked me to..."
"What do you want me to do?" Li Guifang leaned her broom against the wall and rubbed her red, frozen hands. "If you have something to say, just say it. It's freezing outside. I don't have time to listen to you chanting!"
"Hu Meiling..." Ji Zhan rubbed his hands, his breath covering his face. "Why hasn't she come back yet?"
"How should I know? Why didn't that vixen come back? She's your brother's mistress, not mine. How can I communicate with her telepathically? How can I know where she is?
How about you ask a shaman for help? I'll ask for you. It's only eighty-eight!"
Ji Zhan was spitting all over his face and took a step back, shrinking his neck. "No... My brother has been squatting outside her house for several days..."
"Oh my!" Li Guifang slapped her thigh and laughed so hard that she fell over, "You two brothers are so funny!
If the person doesn't come back, why don't you go to Shanghai to look for him? Instead, you come to me to ask for him? "
She counted on her fingers, "What's the matter? Do you think I, Li Guifang, have clairvoyance or super hearing? Or can I tell fortunes or something?"
"Shanghai is so big..." Ji Zhan was depressed. Shanghai is so big, where can they find it?
"Big? If it's big, don't look for it!" Li Guifang felt that this person was living as if he was kidding himself!
"Then...then your brother Mingyuan..." Ji Zhan hesitated and tested.
"My son?" Li Guifang's voice suddenly rose eight octaves. "How dare you mention Mingyuan?" She pulled aside the curtain of the counter. "Because of that vixen, my Mingyuan has been bedridden at home for two months!
How can he have anything to do with Hu Meiling if he never leaves the house? "
Just at this moment, I saw the door curtain lifted and several neighbors came in with baskets to buy snacks.
Li Guifang immediately ran back, "Hey Aunt Wang, what do you want to buy?"
He turned around and glared at Ji Zhan, lowering his voice: "Why don't you leave now? Stop trying to be a relative!"
Who knows what happened to Ji Zhan? He fell flat on his face on the side of the road.
Aunt Wang looked at him, puzzled: "Whose child is this?"
Li Guifang skillfully wrapped the Yuanxiao (Chinese dumplings) and said, "Hey, that silly kid from the Ji family insisted on asking me to tell his fortune and find him a partner. I told him this is a pastry shop, not a Yue Lao temple!"
The day went by uneventfully, and it was Friday again.
The store was bustling with activity when the door curtain rustled and a respectable customer in a tweed coat came in - Deputy Director Wu.
She was holding two boxes of snacks in her hands and had a decent yet awkward smile on her face!
"Director Wu, why are you here again?" Li Guifang wiped her hands and walked out from behind the counter with a gentle smile on her face.
Deputy Director Wu was even more embarrassed. He pulled a manila envelope from his bag and said, "Boss Li, I'm giving you the deposit I paid and want to apologize. Our factory has investigated the incident before the New Year... and that note... is fake."
It turned out that before the Spring Festival, the textile factory was holding a party, and the job of buying cakes fell to Xiao Zhang from the purchasing department.
Who knew that in order to get a kickback, Xiao Zhang bought a cake ticket at a low price from a ticket scalper who claimed to have "connections".
Who knew that this ticket scalper was an expert in counterfeiting, even the official seal was made to look very realistic!
This ticket not only fooled Xiao Zhang, but also fooled her, Director Wu. However, in the eyes of the owner of Guifangzhai, it was definitely fake at first glance!
However, the boss still gave her the cake, solving her urgent problem!
This evening party was well organized and won praise from everyone!
At the party, the bureau leaders were very satisfied after tasting the food, and approved two tons of unplanned cotton yarn at the beginning of the year!
She had originally planned to come and pay it back as soon as the finance department gave her money once work started!
However, once work started, the factory was so busy with all sorts of things, big and small, that it was delayed until today!
"Director Wu, there's no need to be so formal. I saw you were in a hurry to hold the party, so I helped you whenever I could. Why would you bother with this?"
She said it beautifully, and her movements were even more beautiful - she took out the money for the cake from the envelope and pushed the rest back into the envelope, without a single cent missing.
This made Director Wu even more embarrassed!
After all, she was the second-in-command of the textile factory's labor union, in charge of the welfare distribution of hundreds of people in the factory, but now she owed a favor to the self-employed business owners.
Suddenly, an idea came to Director Wu, and he suggested inviting Li Guifang to dinner to express his gratitude!
Li Guifang thought that the other party was the director of the textile factory's labor union, so she should establish a good relationship with him and get more orders next time.
Another reason is that the other party, Wu Qiuhe, is Xu Minxing's mother. For the sake of her daughter Li Mingli, she wants to have a good relationship with Wu Qiuhe!
So she readily agreed! Her face immediately lit up with a smile: "That's great, I can ask Director Wu for advice."
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