Mao Guangyu pondered for a moment and said:
"After Shu Hui divorced Zhou Jian'an, she was kicked out of the house. These three girls chose to go to their uncle's house with their mother. They must hate their father. In her eyes, we are all Zhou family members, so it is normal for her to be wary of us."
Zhou Fangchun nodded, "Then I'll go to the department store tomorrow to find out her attitude?"
Mao Guangyu closed the newspaper. Qiu Jiadong had a terrible reputation. No decent family would marry their daughter to him. But Qiu Jiadong was already 24 years old. He was harassing girls and causing trouble all day long. The Qiu family wanted to find him a wife to keep him in check!
Mao Guangyu was hoping for a promotion for the Qiu family, so naturally he had to help resolve this matter.
It would be even better if the Dai family could help, but the Dai family is far away in Beijing, far from the emperor's reach, and Zhou Jian'an and Dai Qinxue haven't even registered their marriage yet.
Speaking at this point would seem too purposeful.
The Dai family could be used to restrain the Qiu family, but it's not the right time yet.
"Take Xu Yiyi and Dai Qinxue to the department store to buy some clothes when you have time. Don't worry about the price, just pick the most expensive ones and put them all on my tab. Tell Mao Xia to treat Xu Yiyi well, and don't offend her!" Mao Guangyu's tone was just like a leader.
Mao Xia is their only daughter. Zhou Fangchun is reluctant to let her daughter be inferior to Xu Yiyi, but she can't ignore Mao Guangyu's words. Besides, the Mao family favors boys over girls and has always disliked Mao Xia for not being a boy. If Mao Xia can handle this matter well, Mao Guangyu will naturally treat his daughter better for a couple of days.
Zhou Fangchun also had some selfish motives.
Yesterday, the department store held an autumn clothing exhibition, displaying dozens of autumn coats, all sourced from Guangzhou. The coats are among the best in China in terms of both style and material.
Zhou Fangchun went to a department store with her colleagues to try on clothes and fell in love with a snowflake wool coat. It had a shawl collar, was knee-length, and had a belt around the waist. It made her look slimmer and more energetic!
Naturally, the price is also quite attractive, a full 120 yuan!
Zhou Fangchun's monthly salary is less than forty yuan. Her colleagues at work seem harmonious on the surface, but behind her back they compare who dresses better, whose scarf is more expensive, and whose husband is more considerate!
Mao Guangyu was inconsiderate. Zhou Fangchun often bought face cream, lipstick, and shoes and hats from the department store, and always said that Mao Guangyu bought them.
It takes money to gild one's image. Mao Xia is also a spendthrift. She doesn't dare to ask Mao Guangyu for money, so she asks her instead. Zhou Fangchun spends all her monthly salary before the end of the month and can't afford a snowflake wool coat that costs 120 yuan!
Mao Guangyu asked her to accompany Dai Qinxue and her daughter to the department store, and even said to pick out the expensive items. Zhou Fangchun wasn't stupid, so she figured she could just put the cost on Dai Qinxue's tab and ask Mao Guangyu for reimbursement!
She readily agreed, "No problem, I will definitely take good care of them, mother and daughter."
The next day, Chu Yu wanted Chu Xiang to help her set up a stall, so she went to Guanxian to bring back quail eggs.
Chu Xiang felt a bit awkward on her own. She wasn't as capable as her sister. She could manage when there were few people, but things got chaotic when there were many. She completely forgot which customer had received money and which hadn't, and she didn't know how to say nice things and build good relationships with customers like her sister did.
"Sis, how about I go get the quail eggs, and you stay and set up the stall?"
Chu Yu was worried about her safety. It would take four hours one way to get to Guanxian from here. She could manage that, but Chu Xiang was still young, and she might not be able to handle any problems that might arise on the way.
"How about this, you take the bus. I heard that this bus is quite fast and it only takes a little over two hours to get there."
Chu Xiang was also afraid of getting lost. Taking the bus was different; there were ticket sellers at each stop to remind her of her destination. She only needed to get off at the Changliu Village stop, which was not difficult.
"Then I'll take the bus."
Chu Yu gave her two yuan, "Keep the rest on your person, so you won't run into trouble and not have enough money."
Chu Xiang nodded, happy to run errands for her sister!
Chu Yu selected the style Wang Xiao wanted from more than three thousand buttons, and spread out the rest for others to choose from.
Just after the weekend, the number of people at Deyang Department Store was not as high as yesterday, but because the department store was holding an autumn clothing fair, it still attracted people from the surrounding counties and towns, so the number of people was still quite considerable.
Chu Yu had just set up her stall when a customer came in.
"Young man, how much are the buttons?"
“Small buttons are 3 cents each, and larger ones like plexiglass and seashells are 30 cents each, but we have a buy-10-get-2-free deal. If you don’t use all 10, you can share an order with someone else and each person pays half,” Chu Yu replied.
The man spoke with a Rongtai County accent and was quite generous when buying things, picking out a full 20 acrylic buttons in one go.
"You want this much?"
The customer smiled and said, "I'm learning tailoring and occasionally take on some jobs making clothes for people. Buttons are so hard to find. I didn't expect you to have such a complete selection! I should have brought my fellow apprentices with me to pick out some as well."
"It's alright, come anytime if you need anything. I'll be setting up my stall here for the next few days, barring any unforeseen circumstances."
The customer paid, picked out the complimentary buttons, and left. Several more groups of customers arrived afterward, and Chu Yu was busy until noon without being able to catch her breath.
At noon, Zhou Fangchun also got off work. She made a special trip home and found her mother-in-law at home when she opened the door.
Zhou Fangchun smiled ingratiatingly: "Mom, you're here?"
After Zhou Jian'an married into the Dai family, Zhou Fangchun's mother-in-law treated her a little better and dared not openly give her a hard time.
Why are you back?
"Jian'an asked me to visit my niece, but I thought it wouldn't be sincere to go empty-handed, so I thought I'd find some old clothes that Mao Xia doesn't wear anymore to bring. My sister-in-law just divorced my brother and is having a hard time. My three nieces can all wear Mao Xia's clothes, so they'll definitely be happy!"
Hearing that she was taking old clothes from home, and that her son had instructed her to do so, Grandma Mao didn't say anything.
Zhou Fangchun rummaged through the closet and pulled out a few old clothes from the bottom of the trunk. She frowned and said, "How come there's a hole in it? It looks like a rat gnawed it. But it's nothing, just a hole. I can mend it and wear it again!"
Although Old Mrs. Mao didn't like this daughter-in-law, she was a person of principle. The clothes were so torn, with half of the sleeve chewed off. She wouldn't have the face to give the clothes to anyone else.
Zhou Fangchun pulled out another one, "This one is nice, but it was burned by the fire tongs. Guangyu accidentally broke it last year when he was scooping coal briquettes."
"This...why does it smell like something?"
Zhou Fangchun picked up the faded shirt, held it to her nose and sniffed it, finding it had a strange smell no matter which way she sniffed it.
"How could you forget!" Old Mrs. Mao reminded her. "Last year, Mao Xia brought home a puppy from somewhere and made a doghouse out of this garment. That dog was a real handful; it peed everywhere, and we had to wipe it all up with this garment. You never washed it, so how could it not smell?"
Zhou Fangchun then remembered this; the smell was indeed a bit strong, but it wasn't unwearable.
Shu Hui was kicked out of her home, and Chu Yu was so poor that she had to set up a street stall. What else is there to complain about?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
