Since Zhao Qiujuan started setting up her stall and earning money, she has become much more cheerful, but a person's nature is hard to change.
Like Zhao Meiyun, she has been radiant these past few days, talking about this and that with great pride, but she is still dependent on others, doesn't dare to argue with anyone, and is even afraid that others will dislike her.
She always puts herself in a humble position and can't help but try to please others.
Why is Zhao Dongjuan so domineering at home? It's because both Zhao Meiyun and Zhao Qiujuan are soft-hearted and easy to bully.
When others speak ill of them, they often think about their own problems first. When they see others getting angry, they become afraid and try to appease them and stop them from being angry.
They actually have a bit of a people-pleasing personality. When such people meet someone like Zhao Dongjuan, who always thinks that everything is someone else's problem... wouldn't they be completely overwhelmed?
Of course, Zhao Dongjuan's growing arrogance was also due to them giving in to her.
Even if they feel wronged, they will still tolerate things, which naturally makes those who are good at taking advantage even more arrogant.
Moreover, they grew up in remote mountain villages, and the mindset they were taught from childhood was to be submissive and accept whatever came their way. Sometimes, even if others didn't make any demands on them, they would still set a bunch of demands for themselves.
In his past life, Shi Zhen had encountered women who felt guilty for not bearing a son for their husbands... Zhao Meiyun and Zhao Qiujuan would be like that.
In fact, Shi Ting is also soft-hearted and easily bullied. Although she loves to spend money, she has some traits that are the same as Zhao Qiujuan and the others, just not as serious.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have refused to get a divorce in their past life.
Shi Ting is easy to fool... Shi Zhen thinks that if he tells her with certainty that eating ten eggs a day will make her beautiful, she really will eat ten eggs.
When Zhao Qiujuan and Shi Ting look for partners in the future, they should try to find someone reliable and responsible.
Shi Zhen pointed out the flaws of the people Zhao Meiyun mentioned, to varying degrees.
These people are indeed not very good quality; in any case, they are all people he doesn't want to take out to work.
Zhao Meiyun was worried: "What should we do? Dongjuan is already married, but Qiujuan is still nowhere to be found..."
“Aunt Zhao, there’s really no rush,” Shi Zhen said.
“Okay…” Zhao Meiyun sighed.
After venting her worries, Zhao Meiyun went to cook, talking to Shi Zhen as she cooked: "Ah Zhen, once your sister gets married, it'll be your turn..."
“Aunt Zhao, I’m very picky, and I prefer to find someone myself. Who knows, I might never find someone I like in my entire life,” Shi Zhen said with a smile.
"Children shouldn't talk nonsense." Zhao Meiyun laughed, not taking Shi Zhen's words seriously.
As they were talking, Shi Zhiqiang brought Zhao Qiujuan back.
On the first date, it's generally not customary to invite the other person to stay for a meal. Of course, if they arrange to eat out on their own, that's a different story.
After Shi Zhiqiang took his leave, Zhao Meiyun immediately asked Zhao Qiujuan, "Qiujuan, what did you two talk about?"
Zhao Qiujuan lowered her head: "We didn't talk about much, just some things about the outside world."
Zhao Meiyun said, "It's good that we didn't talk about anything... Your dad and Azhen both said that Shi Zhiqiang isn't a good person, so this relationship can't work out."
Zhao Qiujuan visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sister, don't you like him?" Shi Zhen asked.
Zhao Qiujuan thought for a moment before saying, "When I first came to the village as a child, he threw mud at me and stole the grass I had cut."
Shi Zhen hadn't expected this... "Then why are you still considering him?" Zhao Qiujuan had been smiling at Shi Zhiqiang earlier.
“He’s a good catch,” Zhao Qiujuan said softly.
With things like this, how can we not be bullied? Shi Zhen sighed inwardly.
This was the first time Zhao Meiyun had heard about Zhao Qiujuan's past bullying, and she immediately said, "He was this bad when he was a child, he must be even worse now, this can't happen!"
She suddenly had even more faith in Shi Zhen and Shi Dalin's judgment, and immediately said to Shi Zhen, "Zhen, you must meet a lot of people out there. If there are any suitable ones, keep an eye out for your sister!"
“Okay,” Shi Zhen readily agreed.
Zhao Meiyun was finally relieved.
In the afternoon, Shi Zhen took advantage of Zhao Qiujuan being alone and chatted with her: "Sister, what are your requirements for your future marriage partner?"
"Requirements?" Zhao Qiujuan looked a little confused, then thought for a moment before saying, "A family with relatively good financial conditions?"
Actually, in those closed-off rural areas before the 1980s, finding a partner was really... pretty much the same for everyone.
Anyway, after getting married, I'll be doing farm work for the rest of my life.
Because most people can't change their fate in their lifetime, when getting married, the number of rooms and furniture in the groom's family becomes a key factor, as it relates to the quality of life after marriage. As for other things, people mainly consider whether the man's family is easy to get along with, whether the man has a good temper, and whether he is in good health.
Whether someone is intelligent, whether they like each other, or whether they get along well... these are secondary.
Shi Zhen knew that Zhao Qiujuan herself couldn't figure it out, so he simply changed the question: "Do you want to get married?"
"Of course I want to, everyone wants to get married," Zhao Qiujuan said matter-of-factly.
"You really want to?"
“I…” Zhao Qiujuan hesitated a bit: “I’m also a little scared. What if that person hits someone… what if his parents are difficult to get along with… what if I can’t give birth to a son…” Her mother had encountered these problems before.
Zhao Qiujuan stammered, "I'm a little scared to go to someone else's house."
Shi Zhen sighed: "Don't think of yourself as going to someone else's house. When you get married, you're forming a small family."
Zhao Qiujuan didn't understand.
Shi Zhen knew this was a matter of mindset: "Sister, sometimes you need to be more open-minded. If a man isn't good, you can replace him. As for your mother-in-law, if you don't want to deal with her, then just ignore her. As for children, not having them isn't really a big deal... As long as you can support yourself, what do you have to be afraid of?"
Zhao Qiujuan was stunned.
Shi Zhen knew that Zhao Qiujuan couldn't possibly change her personality just because of one sentence he said.
However, even a slight change would be good.
Because of Shi Zhen's interference, all of Zhao Qiujuan's subsequent matchmaking attempts fell through.
Zhao Meiyun is someone who is not very willing to tell people her true thoughts.
She was in a terrible state of confusion, rejecting all the marriage proposals and then turning down Shi Zhiqiang.
When she arrived at Shi Zhiqiang's house, she didn't dare to say that she didn't like Shi Zhiqiang. She just said that Zhao Qiujuan was still young and there was no rush.
Zhao Dongjuan is already married, but Zhao Qiujuan is still young? Shi Zhiqiang's mother naturally pressed for answers. Zhao Meiyun's explanations were all in vain, so she finally said, "It's Dalin who doesn't agree."
Knowing about the conflict between their family and Shi Dalin, Shi Zhiqiang's mother knew that the matter was indeed doomed after receiving this reason. She vented her anger on Zhao Meiyun: "My Zhiqiang is such a good man, and you still don't agree? Now that you have a little money, you think you're all that. You want to marry a dragon prince? I want to see what kind of person your daughter, with her ugly appearance, can marry in the end. Be careful she doesn't end up not getting married!"
Shi Zhiqiang's mother added, "I'll talk to everyone in the village about this! I guarantee everyone will know that your family has high standards!"
After being lectured, Zhao Meiyun really started to worry, fearing that rumors would spread in the village that Zhao Qiujuan had high standards, and that because of such rumors, no one would come to propose marriage.
She muttered to herself for a long time.
Shi Zhen: "..."
Before Shi Zhen could speak, Guan Baiyu said, "Aunt Zhao, we're leaving the day after tomorrow, what are you afraid of?"
Guan Baiyu had always been with Shi Zhen, and he had seen everything that had happened with Zhao Qiujuan.
He also felt that Zhao Meiyun and Zhao Qiujuan were too easy to bully.
Zhao Meiyun relaxed after hearing Guan Baiyu's words: "That's true..."
Shi Zhen added, “Aunt Zhao, everyone envies you. My sister can earn more than a thousand a month now. It’s normal for her to have high standards. If you’re afraid of what people will say, go outside and tell them how much my sister earns each month. Then no one will say that my sister has high standards.”
Zhao Qiujuan runs a rice ball stall and can earn at least six or seven hundred yuan a month. She also does embroidery on the side.
She is actually very good at making money.
Previously, although Zhao Meiyun had told others that Zhao Qiujuan could make money, she only vaguely mentioned that Zhao Qiujuan could earn a wage by setting up a stall... The villagers all thought that Zhao Qiujuan only earned two or three hundred yuan a month.
Some people think Zhao Qiujuan earns at most a hundred yuan, so they don't think Zhao Qiujuan is particularly outstanding.
Zhao Meiyun gritted her teeth and actually went outside.
Zhao Qiujuan's face flushed red: "I don't earn a thousand every month, I... I'm a little embarrassed..."
However, despite saying that, she still wanted people to know that she was very capable and to praise her.
Zhao Qiujuan's feelings were extremely complicated.
After going outside, Zhao Meiyun gritted her teeth and said that Zhao Qiujuan could earn eight hundred yuan a month.
She was too embarrassed to say the whole thing.
But this shocked the villagers. They thought that the most profitable person in the Shi family was Shi Dalin, who could earn at most a thousand yuan a month.
Because Shi Dalin said that everything outside costs money and that he had even bought a color TV, they thought the Shi family probably didn't have much savings.
But now... Zhao Qiujuan can earn eight hundred a month?
That's way too much!
From this perspective, Shi Zhiqiang is really not good enough for Zhao Qiujuan; he's not even worthy of being the village chief's son!
Even the township head's daughter-in-law doesn't earn as much as Zhao Qiujuan!
Suddenly, the villagers felt that Zhao Qiujuan, who had an ordinary appearance, was like a fairy. Some people even came to the Shi family specifically to see Zhao Qiujuan.
Zhao Qiujuan felt a little embarrassed, but couldn't help feeling vain. She felt happy when others praised her.
She knew it was all thanks to Shi Zhen, and these past few days she'd been practically feeding him ten meals a day, leaving Shi Zhen both amused and exasperated.
Shi Dashan, who had been hesitant and reluctant to leave despite being pressured by his son, was shocked to hear about this: "Zhao Qiujuan can earn eight hundred a day?"
“What’s so strange about that?” Shi Xingchao said, “I work for Shi Zhen and I can earn five or six hundred a month. She runs her own stall, so she must earn more than me!”
Shi Dashan finally made up his mind to go out.
On the seventh day of the lunar new year, the Shi family packed their belongings and left the village.
Fifteen other young men also left with them.
Six of them were chosen by Shi Zhen to take with him, while the others planned to go out and find work on their own.
After word spread that Shi Zhen was going to take six people away, some people in the village were very unhappy. They felt that it was too much for Shi Zhen not to take them, and some even came to Shi Zhen's door to demand an explanation.
However, Shi Zhen was not Zhao Meiyun, and he didn't care about these people's questions. He simply said, "I think they are suitable."
That was all he said. The people's commotion was useless, so they had to back down and eventually decided not to follow Shi Zhen anymore. They would go out and find work on their own—they didn't believe that they couldn't find jobs without Shi Zhen's help.
Everyone was heading towards the village together.
Of the nine people, most of them were somewhat dissatisfied with Shi Zhen not including them, but they still maintained a friendly demeanor towards him.
Shi Zhiqiang, who was rejected by Zhao Qiujuan, harbored a lot of resentment towards Shi Zhen. He kept speaking ill of Shi Zhen to the six people who followed him: "Are you really planning to follow Shi Zhen? What if he doesn't pay you? Do you know what he wants you to do? He's taking you out here to make you do hard labor!"
The six men were specially selected by Shi Zhen; they were all quite nice. The oldest among them said, "We know we're going out to do manual labor... What's wrong?"
Shi Zhiqiang had a lot to say, but he choked back his words.
The man continued, "If you go out to find work, don't you have to work hard?" These people haven't received much education; what else can they do if they don't work hard? Become teachers or doctors?
This Shi Zhiqiang is getting too cocky.
Shi Zhen's tractor is still parked next to the school in the village.
If it's not driven for a few days, this tractor... suddenly won't start.
It took Shi Zhen a long time to get it started, and then the Shi family, Guan Baiyu, and the six men all squeezed on and sat on their own luggage.
Ten years from now, if Shi Zhen drove like that outside, he would definitely be arrested.
But right now... there are even more people on the tractor next door than here!
Besides the nine people from their village, there were also a few people from other villages on that bus.
With more people, it became uncomfortable for everyone to stay in the car. In order to allow for ventilation, Shi Zhen didn't even set up the plastic sheet tent, so everyone had to endure the cold wind.
However, since they were all hardworking people, no one really cared.
Shi Zhenxian took them to the county town, and then the six of them went to stay in a large dormitory, while he and the Shi family booked a room.
The next day, Shi Zhen wanted the six people to take a long-distance bus, but they refused. Shi Dalin also felt that it was unnecessary to spend the money. In the end, they all squeezed together and arrived at Anshan Town.
Along the way, there were two other people who had come with Shi Zhen to work and had learned to drive tractors.
Tractors don't go very fast, and there are few people on the road at this time. People learn to drive tractors directly on the road before taking a traffic knowledge test and getting a license.
Shi Zhen didn't intend to drive the tractor forever, so naturally he wanted to teach others.
He's already thinking about buying a bicycle; for many things, riding a bicycle is the most convenient.
Going back is actually quite inconvenient because of the large number of people.
Fortunately, Shi Zhen had driven this route before, so he was more confident about when to rest and other such matters, and he could tolerate it.
On the evening of the ninth day, they arrived at Anshan Town.
Shi Zhen drove directly to Guanjian State and then let the six people stay there for a few days.
The wool sweater factory is busiest in the second half of the year. There isn't much work in the first half, so they won't resume operations until after the fifteenth of the lunar month. These days, the factory is basically empty.
As for what happens next... we should be able to find a place for these six people to stay in the next few days.
The people in their village never thought that houses could be rented out before, but now they are all eager for someone to rent houses from them!
Guanjia Village is a rural area, and the living standards of the villagers here are actually far inferior to those in towns, let alone big cities.
But the six country bumpkins who had just come from the mountains were stunned when they saw the situation in Guanjia Village: "The houses here are so beautiful, they're all two stories high... When I make money in the future, I'll go back and build one too!"
Shi Zhen didn't say much to them.
People who have just come out of the mountains often think about going back to build houses, but in the future... most of them will buy houses and settle down elsewhere.
The next day, Shi Zhen rented a house from the villagers, bought a bag of cement, and called the six people over to teach them how to build a wall with broken bricks.
They built some low walls, half a meter high, and then put door panels on them to make beds.
As for why people sleep on door panels... villagers are reluctant to throw anything away, and there are often old door panels left over from the past. They can be bought for a little money, which is cheaper than buying a bed.
Shi Zhen taught those people how to build walls, and he also built an earthen stove and connected a water tap for them inside the house. It took several days to complete all of these tasks.
Meanwhile... Guan Baiyu and Liang Qinxuan had already found someone to do contract manufacturing for them, and they were producing pencil cases for them.
Not only that, Liang Qinxuan's uncle also bought a batch of goods from elsewhere, which were fabric patches of cartoon characters that could be sewn onto clothes as decorations... These things were only the size of an egg, and when sewn onto a pencil case, they became decorative items, so they didn't have to specifically look for fabric with cartoon characters printed on it.
Moreover, these items are sewn onto the pencil case with a sewing machine, making them even more secure.
Their company's start-up capital totaled 20,000 yuan. Guan Baiyu divided it equally: 10,000 yuan was used to produce pencil cases, and the other 10,000 yuan was used to produce school bags.
The backpacks are all the same style, the only difference is the color and pattern of the fabric. As for pencil cases, there are two styles.
One type of pencil case has a lining and is more complex to make, costing 90 cents each; the other type has no lining and costs only 40 cents each.
With the two combinations... they planned to produce 16,000 pencil cases with 10,000 yuan.
As for the backpacks, the fabric and zippers are not cheap, and the cost of each backpack is about five yuan. They produced a total of two thousand backpacks.
These are ultimately sold wholesale. They won't make a lot of money, but they can earn at least 10,000.
This is already an exorbitant profit!
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