Chapter 170
As a result, after such a long period of preparation for opening the store, almost everywhere in the city knew that a new clothing store called "Xinfeng Clothing Store" would open next to the grocery store on Central Road on Sunday, April 26th. There would also be a big promotion at that time. As long as you bought clothes, you could participate in a lottery, and the first prize would be ten kilograms of rice.
Although the clothing store has not officially opened yet, the publicity has made many people familiar with the store name, and the lottery for ten kilograms of rice has become popular.
If you happen to need to buy some clothes, then it doesn't matter where you buy them, right?
Go to that Xinfeng clothing store to buy it. Not only is it cheaper, but you can also participate in the lottery. Even if you don’t win the first prize, it’s good to take home a small bag of flour. Who would complain about having too much food at home?
With such intensive publicity, even Shen Wen knew about this clothing store. Shi Xiaoyu even discussed with her that she wanted to go and have a look at the new clothes.
Therefore, Xia Qingtang was full of anticipation for the first day of opening. She believed that many people would come to buy clothes.
"Xiao Xia, do you want to go to the Xinfeng clothing store with us on Sunday? I saw on the big-character poster that there will be a lot of new styles of clothes. Lao Shen has already agreed, so let's go together then. I want to buy a dress this year, and Lao Shen wants to buy a new coat and a new shirt." Shi Xiaoyu ran over to ask Xia Qingtang after get off work.
Xia Qingtang said: "I will definitely go. The store is on Central Road, very close to me. However, I will probably go there with my family, so we may not be able to meet each other then."
"Forget it, I'll just make an appointment with Old Shen. Old Shen has a lot more money now, and I want to help her pick out two nice clothes and help her dress up." Shi Xiaoyu said with a smile.
"Yes, Old Shen has become whiter and more handsome now, and he looks a lot younger than before. His cheeks are also fuller. If he dresses up a little more, he will definitely look better." Xia Qingtang said.
Shen Wen blushed slightly: "Stop talking, I haven't gotten prettier..."
Shen Wen is indeed much prettier than when she first entered the factory. Her skin has become whiter, and because she has money to buy vanishing cream, her skin is softer and more delicate than before. In addition, she eats well in the factory, and her health has gradually improved. She has indeed become much younger.
She was a pretty girl when she was young, and now that she has recovered, she has become more beautiful. However, the clothes she wears are still those she brought from home. Not only are the styles old-fashioned, but they are basically tattered and have many patches on them.
Although Shen Wen herself doesn't care much about clothes, her living conditions are much better now than before, and she has more money on hand, so she would be willing to buy two better new clothes.
"Old Shen, you have become more beautiful." Shi Xiaoyu said, "People are in high spirits when good things happen to them. Now you live in a new house and have taken your little son home. You must be happy every day."
When Shen Wen heard about his youngest son, he laughed: "Yes, now that the youngest son has been brought here, I feel relieved. The eldest son is also more sensible. He is willing to understand my difficulties and said that he will study hard at home and come to the provincial capital to find me when he grows up..."
Shen Wen had a good New Year. She reconnected with her family. Her father and eldest cousin accompanied her to Hongxing County. After negotiations, the man gave up his younger son, and the older son had to stay in the county.
Fortunately, the eldest son is not young anymore and knows that his mother has had a very hard life over the years. Therefore, he comforted Shen Wen and asked her and her brother to live a good life in the provincial capital. He said that he would go to the provincial capital to find them after he graduated.
During the time when Xia Qingtang took leave to go to Hsinchu City, the factory was distributing houses in full swing. Shi Xiaoyu, Shen Wen, Cheng Shuangmin and others almost all moved in, and everyone was extremely satisfied with the new houses.
New bus routes have also been arranged. Now you can take the bus at the factory gate at any time, which is really convenient.
The children who moved in have successfully transferred to other schools. Every morning, you can see a group of children of different ages waiting for the bus at the door with their schoolbags on their backs. The older children will take care of the younger ones, so that the parents can go to work with peace of mind.
Because of the housing distribution in the factory, single male and female workers also rushed to start dating, hoping to get married as soon as possible so that they could be allocated new houses.
Although these people are all locals, their parents' homes are quite crowded, so everyone wants to have their own place to live.
During this period, the factory union also organized two large-scale group blind date activities for these single workers, allowing new and old workers to get to know each other better through these activities.
After these two blind date events, more than half of the single young people in the factory have found their partners, but some may not have their destiny yet, so they have not found one even after participating in the events.
But it doesn't matter, because the union is already preparing for the third blind date event. For this event, they will invite single men and women from other factories in the city, so that there will be more opportunities.
Because the Future Electric Appliance Factory has high salaries, good benefits, and extremely superior housing conditions, single young people from other factories are particularly willing to get to know the young people here, but they just don't have many opportunities. Now that there is such an event, the trade unions of other factories are very happy and said that they will definitely select the best single young people to participate in the event.
These days, Xia Qingtang has been busy with this event. She has already made preliminary contact with the cotton mill, steel mill, and pharmaceutical factory, and sent the event plan to their factory unions. Next week, she will visit these three factories to confirm the list of participants and some other details.
The steel mill and the pharmaceutical factory are both large factories, so there is no problem in giving them priority when organizing events. As for the cotton mill, it is because Xia Qingtang is more familiar with it. Lin Shuang also agrees to let the cotton mill arrange more single young women to come.
When they went downstairs, Xia Qingtang separated from Shi Xiaoyu and Shen Wen. Now they both lived in the factory staff quarters, and only Xia Qingtang needed to take the bus.
There are fewer shuttle buses nowadays, and some routes have been merged, so it takes longer to get home from get off work.
Xia Qingtang was not used to it at first, but later she made a small handwritten vocabulary notebook and memorized words on the bus every day, or simply took a nap, so that the commute home from get off work was not so difficult.
After getting on the bus, Xia Qingtang chose a seat by the window in the back row. As soon as she sat down, she saw Hu Yanhui coming up with a big bag on his back.
"Brother Hui, here." Xia Qingtang waved her hand, and Hu Yanhui walked over with a smile and sat down next to her.
"Is Yanni going to see you tomorrow?" Hu Yanhui said.
"Yes, she will come to my house to see me tomorrow, and then we will go to the clothing store that is about to open to take a look."
"Xinfeng Clothing Store, right? There are a lot of big-character posters posted around our factory. I've seen them, too. Many female employees in our workshop said they want to go and join in the fun. There will definitely be a lot of people in that store tomorrow. You and Yanni must be careful."
"Don't worry, let's go over there and take a look. If there are too many people in the store, we won't go in yet and will wait outside for a while." Xia Qingtang said, "Brother Hui, don't you plan to buy a piece of clothing? Or buy a new skirt for your partner."
Hu Yanhui said, "I won't join in the fun. I can go next week. As for my girlfriend, I will go with her and pick out a nice dress for her."
"Brother Hui, have you set a time for your good day?"
Hu Yanhui's relationship with his girlfriend was going smoothly, and after a few months, they were both sure that they wanted to be together, so they took each other to meet their parents, and the marriage was officially decided, but the time had not yet been decided.
Hu Yanhui said: "The date is set for July. Then we will go to register with the factory's certificate. At noon, our families will have lunch together and we will be considered married."
"No wedding? Your family should have saved money for you to get married." Xia Qingtang joked.
However, Hu Yanhui's family conditions are indeed quite good, so it should be possible to set up four tables of wine.
Hu Yanhui smiled and said, "We have agreed to keep everything simple. We plan to use the money my parents saved for me to travel abroad in August. Having a wedding banquet is not suitable for us. Traveling is better."
"Travel weddings are very popular nowadays."
"Yes, traveling costs money, and we'll move to the factory's family quarters after we get married, and decorating the house will cost money." Hu Yanhui said with a smile, "I've lived in the steel factory for so many years, and I'm going to move out soon. I'm a little reluctant."
"Once you move away, it will be even harder for them to see you, and you can't go home every Sunday."
"There's nothing I can do about it, but I promised to go back once a month."
They chatted casually when the car arrived at Central Road. Xia Qingtang got out of the car and walked to the door of the clothing store to look at it carefully.
The flow of people here is very large. Even on weekdays, countless people pass by here every day. Especially after get off work, many people will buy things from grocery stores, and they will definitely pass by clothing stores.
Although the store door is closed now, there is a very eye-catching large poster outside the door. This was drawn by Xia Qingtang and asked students from the Fine Arts Department of the provincial university. The aesthetics is excellent and the colors are eye-catching. The words "One day left to opening" can be seen from a distance.
Tomorrow is Sunday, and we chose to open on this day to ensure maximum customer flow.
Xia Qingtang stood outside the door looking at the big posters and couldn't help laughing.
"Xiao Xia, why are you standing here and not leaving?" Luo Xiangqian's voice suddenly sounded from the other end.
Xia Qingtang looked over there and saw Luo Xiangqian holding a tin pot, and next to him was Leng Feng who was also holding a tin pot. He said, "I'm standing here looking at this big poster. What's going on with the two of you? Why are you going shopping together?"
Luo Xiangqian said, "Don't you know? That new restaurant recently made a delicious steamed cake. My mother likes it very much, so she asked me to buy a pot to eat with porridge. Leng Feng's family also wanted to eat it, so I asked Leng Feng to go with me to buy it."
"What kind of steamed cake is that? Let me see." Xia Qingtang waited for Luo to come over, then opened the lid of his pot and took a look. He saw that the inside was packed with steamed cakes. Each one was the size of a fist and looked like steamed cake, but with rich colors, including white, yellow, reddish brown and light purple. They looked really good.
"How is it? Doesn't it smell good?" Luo Xiangqian said, "Why don't you take one and try it?"
"Okay, I'll try it. If it's delicious, I'll buy it next time." Xia Qingtang said, and took a white one from the pot, put it to his mouth and took a bite. It tasted like steamed cake, but this one was softer, more elastic, and sweeter.
"Is it delicious?" Luo Xiangqian said happily.
"It's delicious. I'll buy it next time." Xia Qingtang said, "You are well-informed. We didn't know about this."
"You and Aunt Six are both good at cooking at your house, so why do we need to go out to buy food? I would rather live in your house." Luo Xiangqian said, "By the way, Yanni is coming over tomorrow anyway, why don't we have dinner at your house tonight? Leng Feng happens to be free too."
"Comrade Leng is not busy recently?" Xia Qingtang glanced at Leng Feng.
Since coming back to work as a criminal policeman, Leng Feng's temperament has become much more mature than before. Maybe because he has seen too many aspects of society, he is not as stubborn as before, and many of his thoughts have become much gentler, at least more normal than before.
Leng Feng said: "It's been rare lately, there haven't been any major cases, so I can take a break."
"Okay, come to my house for dinner tomorrow night, but you have to eat early, at five o'clock, and finish before six o'clock, because I have to go out." Xia Qingtang said, "Also, I have used up all my meat coupons this month, so you can't have meat dishes. The most I can do is make you some salted pork stewed rice and steam a salted duck."
"That's great. I'll buy some vegetables and eggs in the morning and give them to you in the evening." Luo Xiangqian looked very happy. "I can eat well tomorrow! I'm so happy! But what are you going to do tomorrow night? You're going out when it's almost dark?"
"Yes, I have something to do." Xia Qingtang said, "After dinner, you and Leng □□ will be responsible for washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. I will let Jinxuan accompany me out."
Xia Qingtang only told Hu Yanni about opening a clothing store, and even Luo Xiangqian was not aware of it.
It’s not that she doesn’t want to tell other people, it’s just that in the early stages of opening the store, she wants to keep it a secret. She will only tell these friends once the store is really on track.
When I got home, I saw Xie Jinxuan writing her homework seriously under the window in the living room.
Xia Qingtang washed his hands first, then came back and picked up his water cup and gulped down half of it, then said, "Let's go have dinner now?"
Tomorrow is the big day when the clothing store opens, so Sixth Aunt wants to help Xia Qingtang celebrate in advance and will cook some delicious dishes for her to have a good meal in the evening.
Xie Jinxuan said, "Wait for me for ten minutes, I will finish writing here."
"good."
Ten minutes later, Xia Qingtang and Xie Jinxuan closed the door and went to the small western-style building. As soon as they entered, they smelled the fragrant aroma of food.
Aunt Liu stewed fresh fish and tofu soup today, made dumplings, and prepared two cold dishes. Grandpa Xie, Xie Chengye, and Mother Xie were not coming back for dinner, so Aunt Liu specially left some dumplings for them, saying that she would cook them for them to try after they came back.
After dinner, grandma asked her, "Are you nervous?"
Xia Qingtang smiled and said, "I'm not very nervous, but I can't really describe the feeling. In fact, I am a little bit nervous, but I am still full of confidence."
"Don't worry, your clothing store will definitely be a booming business!"
"Thank you, grandma!" Xia Qingtang hugged her grandma, "I think business will be good too."
The next morning, Xinfeng Clothing Store opened successfully. Amid the sound of firecrackers, many passers-by who had gathered early blocked the door.
The store manager Zhang Xiaomei said loudly amid the cheers: "Our Xinfeng Clothing Store is officially open today!"
"Come in and take a look!" Several aunts who couldn't wait any longer rushed into the clothing store.
The others quickly followed, and after walking in, they found that the Xinfeng Clothing Store looked different from the clothing stores they had seen before. The clothing displays here were more vivid, and there were many person-high mirrors in the store, which not only allowed them to see their entire bodies from many angles, but also made the store appear particularly bright.
People who often go to department stores also found that the cabinets, shelves and counters in this store are completely different from those over there. They are not dark colors such as crimson or dark brown, but beige.
The walls were also painted snow-white, and many colorful and novel clothes were hung high on the walls, which were so dazzling that it was impossible to take in everything.
"The clothes here... are very different..." someone said loudly.
"Yeah, look at this coat. I've never seen this style before."
A saleswoman in a white shirt and dark blue vest came over. She smiled and said gently, "Comrade, welcome to our Xinfeng Clothing Store. These clothes are the clothes that our leaders brought in from other places. Our store is the only one that sells them in the entire provincial capital. Take this coat, for example. It's a jacket with a novel style and a variety of colors. It can be worn from spring to early winter. The fabric is strong and is very suitable for matching with a skirt or pants. Would you like to try one on?"
The two customers looked at each other and said subconsciously, "Okay, let's give it a try!"
The salesperson immediately helped them get the corresponding sizes and asked them to try them on in front of a large mirror.
Other customers also started choosing clothes, and everyone discovered another difference in this store: all the clothes here were clearly priced.
How much is a coat, how much is a dress, how much is a pair of pants, everything is clearly written out, there is no need to ask for each item one by one.
Of course, someone soon discovered something strange.
A middle-aged female customer grabbed the store manager Zhang Xiaomei and asked, "Comrade, why are the folded clothes over here so cheap, and the clothes hanging over there so expensive?"
The clothes hanging on the wall and displayed on the coat racks are all new clothes, but the clothes stacked up in the corner are second-hand clothes bought from second-hand wholesale stores, so naturally the prices are completely different.
Zhang Xiaomei immediately smiled and said, "Comrade, it's like this. Those piled-up clothes were purchased through a special channel. They came from a place called Gangcheng. Have you heard of it?"
"Gangcheng? I've heard of it. How come the clothes in Gangcheng are so cheap?"
"Because these clothes are not available in all sizes, some clothes only have one piece of each style, and they may have suffered some minor damage during production and transportation, so they are sold at such a price. However, these clothes are very beautiful. Comrades can choose carefully. If there is one that suits your size, you will make a profit if you buy it." Zhang Xiaomei said.
This was an argument that Xia Qingtang had considered for a long time, because the concept of second-hand clothes was still too advanced in this era, and people at that time might not be able to accept this statement. However, these clothes did have some minor damages, so by saying that they were caused during production and transportation, it was also considered as informing customers in advance that there were some problems with these clothes. If they could accept it, then they could buy them. If they couldn't accept it, there would be brand new and good clothes over there, which would always satisfy customers.
It turns out that cheap things are always the most attractive. The second-hand clothes stacked up in the store are sold out almost immediately because of their novel styles, diverse colors and low prices.
Store manager Zhang Xiaomei immediately called out to the clerk Wang Ying: "Xiao Wang, the clothes here are almost sold out. Go to the warehouse and bring another bag over to put them in order."
"Got it." Wang Ying immediately went to the cashier counter to find Ma Chuntao to get the warehouse key.
Because of the need to stock up, Xia Qingtang rented a room behind the store as the store's warehouse. There were several locks on the warehouse, and one had to get the key from the cashier to enter and exit the warehouse.
At first, Xia Qingtang only brought back more than a hundred pieces of second-hand clothes, but because she considered the strength of her publicity, she called Xie Xiaoshuang there and asked her to go to the commercial street on her day off and buy a few hundred pieces of second-hand clothes and ship them over.
Not only was a batch of second-hand clothes delivered, but Xia Qingtang also ordered another batch of new clothes. At the same time, there were two batches of clothes on the way, just in case, in case the business in the store was too good all of a sudden and there were not enough clothes to sell.
Xia Qingtang came to the store early in the morning and stood outside to observe. She saw that almost all the customers who walked into the store enthusiastically bought clothes in the store, and she couldn't help but feel fortunate for her decision to place an order.
Because of the grand opening these days, all five sales clerks in the store came to work at the same time, but even with five people working here, it was still a bit too busy.
There were too many customers who wanted to try on clothes, but people at this time were relatively cautious. They would generally choose for a long time and would try on clothes only after they decided on one. In addition, customers who bought coats did not need to use the fitting room, so there was not a long line outside the fitting room.
The lottery was also in full swing, because the previous poster made it very clear that buying one piece of clothing could get you one chance to draw, and buying two pieces of clothing could get you two chances to draw, so the lottery counter was as lively as the cash register.
The two people in charge of the lottery table were part-time students hired by Xie Jinxuan from the provincial university. Although there was no concept of part-time work at that time, who would not be happy to be paid? So these two college students came happily at 7:30 in the morning and waited for work.
Because a large number of people were expected, a lot of prizes were prepared in advance. There were two first prizes, four second prizes, eight third prizes, and a total of thirty small bags of flour for the fourth prize. In that era, these prizes cost a lot of money.
The lottery box was also made by Xia Qingtang himself. It was made into a large cardboard box with cardboard and filled with small lottery papers. Customers who bought clothes and paid at the cashier could bring their receipt to the lottery table to draw prizes.
For each piece of clothing, you can touch a small piece of paper. The opening of the box is very small and the papers are folded up, so it is impossible to cheat. After all, the winning notes are all written by Xia Qingtang himself and have unique "anti-counterfeiting marks" on them.
On the receipts for those who have already won a prize, a check mark will be drawn with a pen and the word "已" will be written on it to prevent someone from using the receipt to draw again.
"Hey, this is the third prize! Look, it says third prize on it!" A young woman took out a lottery ticket, opened it and saw the words third prize on it, with a cute little flower logo drawn on it.
The female student in charge of the lottery immediately shouted, "Congratulations to this customer for winning the third prize. Now, we will present the prize to you!"
As she spoke, she solemnly took out a bag of brown sugar from the box at her feet and handed it to the young woman: "Congratulations! Comrade, you are so lucky! This is the third prize!"
"Thank you, thank you!" The young woman was so happy that she was spinning around excitedly while holding the bag of brown sugar.
The lottery stand was placed outside the store's door, facing the busy street, so the grand event of the lottery quickly attracted some people who were still watching, and they all gathered around and asked questions.
“Is this really a possible win?”
The female student immediately smiled and said, "Brother, of course you can win the prize. Didn't this comrade just win the third prize?"
"A bag of brown sugar, did you really give it to her?"
"Yes, look, didn't this female comrade take all the brown sugar? The lucky draw is genuine and it's written here. You can take a look, big brother." The female student introduced.
The female student Xia Qingtang found was a young and eloquent person with a sharp tongue, and was very suitable for this job.
Coincidentally, another aunt who had bought clothes also came to draw the lottery. She actually won a second prize and jumped up immediately.
"Child, look, is this my second prize? Is this the second prize?"
The female student quickly helped her check and saw that it was indeed the second prize. She immediately smiled and shouted to the outside: "Congratulations to this comrade for winning the second prize and a bottle of rapeseed oil! Congratulations!"
Cooking oil is in limited supply in every household. Some poorer families are reluctant to use oil when cooking and just cook with water. Therefore, passers-by were all surprised to win rapeseed oil in the draw.
They watched the boy carefully take out a bottle of rapeseed oil and hand it to his aunt, and everyone's eyes widened.
"Thank you, thank you! Thank you! I didn't expect your store to be so good! Not to mention the beautiful clothes in the store, you can also give a 10% discount today! Not only is it a discount, but you can also participate in a lottery when you come out! I really want to thank you so much!" The aunt was an honest person. When she saw that they really gave her a bottle of rapeseed oil, she was so excited that tears almost fell from her eyes!
The female student smiled and said, "Auntie, we should thank you for coming to our store. If you think the clothes in our store are good, please introduce other relatives and friends to buy them. Our boss said that our store will hold various lucky draws from time to time in the future. As long as you catch up with the lucky draw, everyone who buys clothes can participate in the lucky draw!"
"Oh, your boss is so kind. Will we lose money if we hold a lottery like this?" The aunt was really kind. She was actually worried about the store.
The female student had also been trained by Xia Qingtang in how to speak. She was also very quick-witted and could easily answer the question. She said, "Don't worry, Auntie. Our leader said that the purpose of opening this clothing store is to allow everyone to wear nice, sturdy and affordable clothes. We also hope that more people can get to know our Xinfeng Clothing Store. As long as everyone is satisfied, we'll be happy! We do all this to serve the people!"
The aunt was so touched that she immediately shook hands with the female student and said, "Little comrade, your leader is really a good leader. Please thank your leader for me. I really accept this bottle of rapeseed oil."
"Take it, auntie. You won this in the lottery. You deserve it. Take it home quickly." The female student also said very emotionally.
After the aunt left with the rapeseed oil, the passers-by who were originally watching became interested and many of them went to line up over there.
"Qingtang, I didn't expect so many people would come to buy clothes. I'm really... surprised..." Hu Yanni held Xia Qingtang's hand and couldn't help but exclaimed.
Xia Qingtang whispered, "This is all to be expected. After all, I started promoting the store and the lucky draw so long in advance. However, today's event is quite special. If there is no lucky draw tomorrow, and people go to work, there will definitely be fewer customers. However, the clothes in our store are new and good-looking. This time we have made a name for ourselves. Even if there is no lucky draw in the future, we should still have regular customers just based on the styles of the clothes."
The clothes that Xia Qingtang chooses are all very particular. Since last year, young people in the provincial capital have started to dress up. Not only have their clothes become more fancy, but their hairstyles have also become more diverse.
However, the clothes sold in these department stores in the provincial capital are still a bit conservative, and some fashionable people always feel unsatisfied. Therefore, since last year, many people have taken the opportunity of traveling to buy more fashionable clothes from Shanghai and Beijing.
The clothes that Xia Qingtang is selling now are branded after Shanghai and Beijing. People who pursue fashion will definitely not miss this place.
Hu Yanni smiled and said, "Qingtang, you are so capable! I admire you even more now."
"What's the connection? You'll have someone to admire in the future." As Xia Qingtang was speaking, she saw Shen Wen and Shi Xiaoyu coming over there. She immediately waved towards them.
"Xiao Xia! You are here too! Oh my God, why are there so many people here? I can't even squeeze in!" Shi Xiaoyu was very surprised when she saw the customers in the store.
Xia Qingtang smiled and said, "Look over there, there's a queue. When one customer comes out, another can go in. You guys should hurry over and queue up."
Shi Xiaoyu said: "Then why don't you go and queue up?"
"I saw that there were too many people, so I thought I'd wait a few days. Anyway, I live next to here, so it's very convenient for me to come. You live far away, and it's hard for you to come here, so hurry up and line up. I just saw that a third prize and a second prize were won here, and they are so happy!"
"Oh, I won the prize? Then I'll go and line up!" Shi Xiaoyu pulled Shen Wen, "Old Shen, let's go and line up quickly!"
Xia Qingtang waved at the two of them: "The clothes inside are very nice, take your time to choose."
She stood outside and observed for a while. Even until lunch time, the store was still full of customers.
The store manager Zhang Xiaomei stood at the door and said loudly: "Comrades, it's almost lunch time, and our store will also take a break. However, because everyone's enthusiasm is so high, we decided to continue business half an hour earlier. Please go eat something first and come back in the afternoon!"
Because all the shops at that time were state-owned, they had a fixed lunch break every day, similar to the factory workers. Xia Qingtang's clothing store also followed this break time and did not intend to make any exceptions.
The customers who were queuing outside the door said, "Comrade, we have been queuing here for a long time. If we leave now, we will not be able to get this seat later."
Zhang Xiaomei smiled and said, "Don't worry, our leaders have thought about this issue a long time ago, so they have prepared queuing number sheets with numbers on them. For example, the first person in line is number one, the second is number two, and so on until the end of the line there are numbers."
"Oh, I understand. We can leave now, and when we come back later, we can take this number and line up according to the number, right?" asked a young man.
"Yes, that's right. Please go and have lunch without worry. Before the store opens in the afternoon, we will help you check the numbers on the slips and let you in according to the current order."
There was applause outside. Hu Yanni stood there and whispered, "Qingtang, how did you come up with this idea? This way, there won't be any disputes."
"It's just like using one's own experience to push others forward. If I had been standing outside in line for so long, I certainly wouldn't want someone else to take the seat in front of me." Xia Qingtang said, "These are all small things."
"The store is about to close, so let's go back too." Hu Yanni said in a low voice.
Xia Qingtang nodded: "Okay, let's go back and eat first."
After the morning business ended, everyone in the store was exhausted, but everyone was very happy because a lot of clothes were sold today. According to Xia Qingtang, when the turnover exceeded the predetermined standard, everyone would receive commission bonuses.
After handing out the numbered papers and waiting for the last customer in the store to participate in the lottery and leave, the store manager officially announced that it was time to take a break.
"Ah, I didn't expect so many people would come to buy clothes."
"Yes, our leader is really amazing. She got it all right."
Ma Chuntao smiled and said, "Of course, our leader is the best. Okay, everyone, hurry up and heat up your meal. After you finish eating, we'll continue to deliver the goods."
All the shops in this area have back doors, and everyone has a coal stove next to the back door, which can be used to boil water and heat up meals at noon.
When it is not so busy, the salesperson can cook his own lunch here and that is also possible.
Xia Qingtang had already said that as long as it did not affect their normal work, they could arrange their activities freely here.
However, because they had anticipated that it would be very busy today, everyone brought their own food, and Xia Qingtang brought a large steamer for them to use to steam rice.
The two students also brought some simple steamed buns and pickles, and asked Ma Chuntao and the others to heat them up before eating.
After lunch, we cleaned up briefly and everyone started to busy themselves with counting and stocking the goods. When it was afternoon time, customers came again.
In the afternoon, the two first prizes were drawn. There were crowds of people watching, and everyone was very envious of the two customers who could take away ten kilograms of rice.
That's ten kilograms of white rice. You can take it home and mix it with coarse grains and eat it for a long time. Who wouldn't be envious?
Xia Qingtang only came here for a while in the afternoon and then went back to prepare dinner.
She already knew the basic situation of the store, and now it would depend on the business performance on weekdays like Monday.
But she had prepared a lot of goods, because when opening a store, no matter when, there must be goods in the store. If there are too few goods on display, customers will have no desire to buy. This was what her cousin's husband said in her previous life, and Xia Qingtang agreed with it.
At five o'clock in the evening, dinner was served in the small courtyard on time.
Xia Qingtang and Hu Yanni cooked dinner together. Luo Xiangqian contributed a lot of vegetables and eggs, so the dinner was quite sumptuous.
The meat dishes included steamed salted duck with bean curd sheets and scrambled eggs with black fungus. There was not much salted duck, but bean curd sheets are a soy product and can be considered a nutritious product at this time. The vegetarian dishes included Xia Qingtang's specialty spicy salad and stir-fried leeks and bamboo shoots. The staple food was potato and carrot rice with some diced bacon in it, which was extremely fragrant.
Leng Feng brought beer and Coca-Cola. Everyone held a glass bottle and drank while eating.
"By the way, Yanni, you said you were going to buy clothes today, why haven't you bought any yet?" Luo Xiangqian said while eating, "Are you worried about money? If you don't have enough money, tell me and I'll buy it for you. We are in a relationship and we are going to get married in the future, so don't be polite with me."
Hu Yanni smiled and said, "I brought money with me, and I'm not short of money. You know, my parents always give me enough money to spend."
"Since you have money, why didn't you buy any clothes? Don't you like the clothes in that store? But I heard from those who came back that the clothes in the store are very beautiful, and the styles are all the kind I have never seen before. Many of them are rare styles that can only be bought in Shanghai and Beijing."
"The clothes in that store are very beautiful, and I like them too, but there are too many people. I want to wait until the afternoon in a few days to buy some. You know, we college students often don't have classes during the day, so we don't have to squeeze with others if we come here at that time." Hu Yanni explained with a smile.
In fact, Xia Qingtang had already considered this and had prepared two more fashionable clothes for Hu Yanni in advance, one was a coat and the other was a waist-hugging dress, which could be worn in more than a month, so Hu Yanni didn't need to squeeze with the crowd of customers at all.
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