In December 1987, Ye Zhi arrived in Guangzhou from Qiongzhou Island a week in advance to attend the end-of-year import and export commodities fair.
The Canton Fair in Guangzhou is the first step to open up foreign markets. Otherwise, in this era when network information has not yet developed, it would be difficult to promote one's products through other means.
Although Ye Zhi has not been involved in the decision-making of the garment factory in recent years, the business direction is still decided by her.
The reason why they came all the way from Qiongzhou Island to attend the Canton Fair was because Ye Zhi's English was good, and Chen Fang said that she had a good image too. No matter where she stood, this beauty would attract people's attention without any advertising.
Helplessly, under the strong request of Director Chen, Ye Zhi, the boss behind the scenes, finally came out and showed his face.
Lu Wei also came to Yangcheng for a meeting on the issue of abolishing the administrative district of Qiongzhou Island and establishing an independent province.
The two lived in the house they had bought in Yangcheng before. Ye Zhi's parents had been living here before, and all the daily necessities were available. Although a few years had passed, the house was still new and clean, and you couldn't tell that anyone had lived there before.
For several days in a row, Ye Zhi was selecting products in the office area of the clothing factory. She chose nearly twenty summer and winter clothes based on popular colors and styles abroad, preparing for the exhibition.
After finishing the product selection, Ye Zhi discussed the arrangements for the Canton Fair with Chen Fang. After arranging everything, the two found a western restaurant by the river to have dinner.
During the break in the meal, Ye Zhi asked, "Have you read the newspaper? A piece of land was auctioned in Shenzhen City."
Chen Fang has been managing a garment factory for the past few years. She has transformed from a timid little woman into a decisive and heroic female entrepreneur. When she heard Ye Zhi say this, she immediately understood what Ye Zhi meant and asked, "Do you want to buy land?"
Ye Zhi took a sip of lemonade, then nodded and said, "If we can open up overseas markets, our factory will definitely have to expand, so I plan to buy a piece of land and build a factory."
But building a factory is just one of them. She also wants to get involved in the real estate industry.
Her garment factory is profitable, and her cold chain transportation company is also thriving, with routes covering half of China. Although she doesn't have many shares, after accumulating over the years, she has earned hundreds of thousands.
In addition, the Haidao duck feather and goose feather processing factory has received a lot of orders this year, and the profits this year should also be good.
Chen Fang nodded and said, "Okay, I'll have a meeting with the finance department to see the profits in recent years. By the way, where do you plan to build the factory?"
Ye Zhi thought about it, then took out a map, drew a red circle in Fan County, which was ten kilometers away from the cloth market, and pointed with her finger: "Although this place is outside the city, it is not far away. Moreover, the land price is much cheaper, and there are many small villages around, so the labor force can keep up."
At this moment, Fan County does not belong to Yangcheng yet. It is a rural area and the land price is more than half cheaper than that in the urban area.
In addition to building a factory, Ye Zhi also wants to invest part of the money in Gong Yuqiong's real estate company to invest in land in Shenzhen. Ye Zhenhua has been in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in recent years and had already found a location long before the policy came out. Now that the policy has been implemented, we will participate in the auction in the near future.
So she wants to keep some money to invest in real estate projects.
Chen Fang basically had no objection to Ye Zhi's decision. When she heard that she had made a decision, she immediately took the map, folded it in half and put it away, saying, "Don't worry, leave it to me."
After discussing business, the two talked about gossip about the people around them.
Chen Fang said, "I saw your cousin a few days ago. She was with an old man and I heard she was going to the United States."
Ye Zhi had been hearing about Ye Hongying's situation in recent years. After she reported Meng Yunyun for smuggling, Meng Yunyun was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined. After that, he returned to Hong Kong and never came back.
Ye Hongying never divorced Gao Wenbo, but after Meng Yunyun left, she heard that Gao Wenbo had become a different person, became addicted to gambling, and became an alcoholic.
He beat and kicked Ye Hongying every day, but the two refused to divorce, as if they were determined to disgust each other for the rest of their lives.
Ye Zhi just smiled and said nothing: "Let's not talk about her, let's talk about you. After Xiaoliang went to college, are you used to living in Guangzhou alone? Have you ever thought about going back..."
Before she even said the word "Qiongzhou Island", Chen Fang laughed heartily and said, "No, I haven't thought about it at all."
Then she added: "When I was in Qiongzhou Island, I always had an idea: I would live here for the rest of my life, growing old, getting sick and dying. But after coming to Guangzhou, I think this place is the best for me."
"Xiaozhi, I know you're afraid that I'll be lonely."
"But I don't at all, because I have found the meaning of life. Xiaozhi, thank you. If it weren't for you, I would have been just a cowardly and incompetent woman in my life."
Ye Zhi reached out and covered the back of her hand, saying, "You've always been great."
Chen Fang raised her chin slightly and smiled: "Of course, I am now the general manager of a well-known clothing brand in Yangcheng. Now when I go to those textile exchange meetings, who doesn't give me face and call me Manager Chen?"
Chen Fang enjoys her current life very much, so she is full of energy every day.
Ye Zhi smiled at her and raised her finger to make a gesture: "If you ask me, Manager Chen is not good enough. It would be better if he could become the president of a listed company like those overseas."
Chen Fang's eyes widened with curiosity and asked, "Listing?"
The steaks were served as they chatted and Ye Zhi began to tell Chen Fang about stock listings.
…
Soon, the Canton Fair began.
On the first day of the Canton Fair, Ye Zhi brought Chen Fang and several capable assistants from the sales department to the venue.
The venue had been arranged in advance, and the billboard was designed by Ye Zhi last month in both Chinese and English. There are also various eye-catching brochures, and they also prepared large boxes. In addition, Ye Zhi also prepared some small Chinese gifts to give to foreign businessmen who came to inquire.
Although the trade fairs of this era cannot be compared with those of later generations, the level of excitement is just as great.
There were a dazzling array of products at the conference. The participating compatriots tried their best to promote their products. Even the exhibitors with poor English tried their best to sell their products.
Today, Ye Zhi, as the "beauty representative" of their stall, wore a cheongsam with oriental beauty in the middle of winter under Chen Fang's arrangement. This is also one of the products of their garment factory, and it is also the only assembly line in their garment factory that retains hand-sewing.
When I took it home and tried it on last night, as soon as I put it on, Lu Wei's face darkened when he saw it. His expression seemed to say, if you dare to wear this cheongsam to the exhibition, I will be angry.
Later, Ye Zhi sacrificed her looks and made Lu Wei torment her until late at night before she got today's results.
In fact, their cheongsams are not revealing, but slimming and figure-enhancing. Ye Zhi chose this to participate in the exhibition because on the one hand she wanted to promote Chinese culture, and on the other hand she thought cheongsams were beautiful.
When I arrived at the venue today, several assistants almost dropped their eyes. "Wow, does our company really need to hire another model? I think Ms. Ye is prettier than any model I've ever seen!"
"Oh my god, Mr. Ye, why don't you come back and take some promotional photos for our company? I guarantee people will collect them as celebrity magazines!"
Chen Fang looked at Ye Zhi's graceful and curvaceous figure and couldn't help but exclaimed, "I told you that I must bring you here. I believe that we will have a great start today, and a big hit at that."
Ye Zhi felt a little embarrassed by what they said, and it seemed like her white arms had nowhere to hide.
"You still say that, I'm already old, and you still let me show off. I'm almost laughed at by others until my face turns yellow."
Although Ye Zhi is in her teens now, she is well maintained and looks young, and she has more charm than a young girl.
Chen Fang smiled, pointed at the two groups of people, and said, "You said these people are laughing at you? Obviously, they are just looking at your beauty!"
Ye Zhi sighed softly: "If I had known, I wouldn't have come."
How nice it would be to be a big boss behind the scenes, enjoying the sea breeze, basking in the sun, and waiting for dividends at the end of the year.
Before long, the trade fair welcomed the first wave of people. With Ye Zhi, a beautiful girl, serving as the centerpiece, they did get off to a good start.
He was a Chinese buyer from Southeast Asia. After seeing the cheongsam Ye Zhi was wearing, he immediately placed an order for one thousand.
But Ye Zhi refused.
The two assistants were stunned and asked hurriedly: "Boss Ye, why do you refuse?"
Ye Zhi explained: "Our boutique line is all handmade, and we have a limited number of sewing masters. We pursue fine production and high quality. If there are too many, it will be cheap."
In any era, any item is valuable because it is rare.
She couldn't destroy the entire high-end line for a momentary profit.
Finally, Ye Zhi told the Chinese businessman a number: "Ten pieces."
Then he quoted another price: "800 dollars a piece."
&Dollar?
Isn’t it just a thousand yuan each?
In the 1980s, wasn't this just like wearing half a house on your body?
Isn't this treating people as fools?
Just when everyone thought the Chinese businessman was going to turn around and leave, he said cheerfully, "Deal."
Several people stared in amazement as the Chinese businessman took out a thick stack of US dollars from his bag, then counted out a few and handed them to Ye Zhi, saying a few words in English.
Ye Zhi happily accepted the money, then looked at the assistants who were stunned and reminded them, "Why are you standing there? Hurry up and give this gentleman a receipt."
After successfully selling the first large order, Ye Zhi was no longer too worried about the remaining products. Most of the foreign businessmen who came here now came with a mission, and if nothing unexpected happened, selling four or five thousand pieces would not be a problem.
Sure enough, at the closing time of the day, their clothing factory ended the day's trade fair with a sales volume of 4,890 pieces.
Ye Zhi was very satisfied with this, especially the ten cheongsams that were sold out at the first opportunity.
After finishing the first day of work, Ye Zhi invited them to have a big dinner at the White Swan Hotel, the most upscale hotel in Guangzhou.
In the following days, Ye Zhi would only go there occasionally. Although she felt a sense of accomplishment when she made a deal, Ye Zhi had not been in charge of things in the past few years. She was indeed not as decisive as Chen Fang and the others, who seemed to have endless energy every day.
Moreover, Lu Wei's meeting was over, so he took two days off to accompany Ye Zhi to look for delicious food in the streets and alleys of Yangcheng.
Ye Zhi and Lu Wei went to a park near the former family compound and found a beef offal restaurant.
Her favorite foods are beef tripe and beef tripe. The aunt who cooks the beef offal is also the grandmother of her former classmate, and the portion she gives them is too much.
A big bowl full.
Ye Zhi smelled the delicious beef offal and said, "If I had brought the children along, I wouldn't be able to finish all this."
When the aunt heard this, she smiled and said, "That's right. My family misses you so much. In the past few years, they always asked me where they went."
Lu Wei folded his arms and looked at the full bowl of beef offal in front of him, remembering that in the past few days, Ye Zhi often ate a few bites and threw the rest to him.
Just a while ago, he had eaten a bowl of shrimp wonton noodles.
I'm still full now.
Lu Wei said, "I'm here. If you can't finish it, I'll eat it."
But compared to eating too much, Lu Wei cherishes his time with Ye Zhi more.
Since having a child, they have had very few moments alone together, maybe ten times or so.
Now that the children have finally grown up and I can let go, there must be some private space for the couple.
After hearing what Lu Wei said, Ye Zhi smiled and said, "That's true. My brother Wei might have eaten it."
Lu Wei just smiled and said nothing. He thought, we can’t waste it, right?
Then he picked up a pair of chopsticks and brought Ye Zhi's favorite beef tripe to her mouth.
Ye Zhi smiled and ate it in one bite.
Seeing this, the aunt smiled kindly and said, "You two are truly the most loving couple I have ever seen. You are both very handsome, and you are a perfect match."
Ye Zhi smiled and said, "We are an old couple, how can we be affectionate with each other?"
Ye Zhi didn’t know whether they were in love or not, but this was how they had been living all these years.
She has become accustomed to getting along with Lu Wei like this.
Auntie smiled and said, "Of course we are in love. I have never seen a man who wants to be fed. Marshmallows are not as sweet as you."
Ye Zhi quickly picked up another pair of chopsticks and said, "I cut my hand while cutting vegetables yesterday. It just hurts a little."
Because it was winter and the wounds were difficult to heal, Lu Wei would sometimes clamp her nipples, but she didn't have to force him to feed her.
Ye Zhi kicked Lu Weiyi under the table, then whispered, "Okay, I'll do it myself."
Lu Wei looked at her lovingly, "Well, eat it."
"You should eat some too. How can I finish it all by myself?"
"I want to eat spicy food, but you won't eat it if it's too spicy."
"Then you can put the pepper on your side."
"Eat it, it will get cold soon..."
After eating the beef offal, Ye Zhi and Lu Wei thought that since they had returned to their previous housing estate, they visited a few of their former good neighbors.
…
After finishing the Canton Fair, Ye Zhi also returned to Qiongzhou Island.
Because she didn't bring the children to Guangzhou this time, Ye Zhi bought a lot of strange toys for the children at the Canton Fair.
Lu Xingyun and Lu Xingzhou liked all kinds of toys such as cars and airplanes, so Ye Zhi spent a huge amount of money to buy a remote-controlled car for each of them.
Although he is already a 15-year-old boy, he still plays with toys like a little child and is very happy.
When Lu Zhixia saw her two brothers had toys, she immediately pouted: "Mom, why do my brothers have toys, but An An and I don't have any!"
Lu Zhiqiu frowned: "I don't want toys, I want a skirt and hairpins!"
Since she was a child, Lu Zhiqiu has always been the one who loves beauty the most in the family. Every time she goes out, the only things she likes to buy are various little skirts, small leather shoes and headwear. When it is vacation time, she likes to put on various little skirts and dress herself up beautifully.
Although the two daughters are only eleven or twelve years old, they are beautiful beauties no matter how you look at them. Several times when they went to Guangzhou, people asked them if they wanted to shoot commercials, but Lu Wei refused every time.
Seeing them clamoring for things, Ye Zhi said, "Who said I didn't buy anything for you? Can you wait a moment? I don't even have time to drink a sip of water!"
Although the temperature in Qiongzhou Island is suitable in winter, Ye Zhi was exhausted after sitting on the boat for a whole day. If it weren't for the children asking questions, she wouldn't want to do anything.
After a while, Lu Zhixia poured Ye Zhi a full cup of warm water and said, "Mom, drink some water first."
Ye Zhi looked at Pingping's well-behaved appearance and smiled: "Our Pingping still loves mom the most."
Lu Zhixia raised her chin proudly and said proudly, "Of course, I love my mother the most."
Lu Zhiqiu took a candy and handed it to Ye Zhi's mouth, saying, "Mom, I love you too!"
Ye Zhi opened her mouth and took the sweet candy into her mouth: "Tian, Mommy loves you too. Wait a moment. This time Mommy bought you a decoration. It's very beautiful."
Compared to other families, Ye Zhi likes to talk about "love" all the time, so her two daughters are often generous in expressing their love.
When Ye Zhi took out the two castle crystal balls, Lu Zhixia and Lu Zhiqiu exclaimed: "So beautiful! Mom, how did you know we always wanted this?"
Ye Zhi smiled and said, "You are my children, how could I not know?"
"Mom, I love it so much, thank you!"
"I like it too, thank you mom!"
Ye Zhi looked at them jumping for joy while holding the crystal balls, and immediately said with a smile: "Actually, your father picked it out."
Lu Zhixia and Lu Zhiqiu looked at each other and asked, "When did Dad's vision become so good?"
The two sisters remember very clearly that on their birthdays last year, Lu Wei gave each of them a pair of army green Liberation shoes, which left them speechless.
Lu Zhiqiu raised his eyebrows and said, "Maybe it was my mother who reminded me."
Lu Zhixia nodded: "I think so too."
After December, 1988, a special year, soon arrived.
Ye Zhi knew that Qiongzhou Island would officially become an independent province this year, and by then they would be people of Qiong Province.
Years ago, Ye Zhenhua came to Qiongzhou Island from Shenzhen to discuss real estate investment with Ye Zhishang.
Ye Zhi has limited funds now, but of course she wants to participate, so when Ye Zhenhua brought it up, Ye Zhi agreed without thinking.
After finishing the business, Ye Zhi asked Ye Zhenhua: "Did Xiao Ding say where he will spend the New Year this year?"
Ye Xiaoding graduated a few years ago, and later entered the Xichang Aerospace Base at the arrangement of the organization. In the past few years, he only came back once, when Ye Zhenhua and Gong Yuqiong held their wedding. The rest of the time he stayed at the base, usually just writing letters and rarely making phone calls.
Ye Xiaoding had a dream of space travel since he was a child. Now he has realized his dream. Although he has few opportunities to go home, Ye Zhi is also happy for him.
Ye Zhenhua pursed his lips and said, "I haven't received his reply yet, so he probably won't come back."
Ye Zhi said, "Oh," and said, "Maybe he's busy. After all, the country's aerospace industry is now in a period of rapid development."
Ye Zhenhua: "Well, it's good that he can do what he likes."
Ye Zhenhua is proud of his son Ye Xiaoding and fully supports all his decisions.
The reason why he is so sensible is actually all due to Ye Zhi and Lu Wei. If one day Ye Xiaoding wants to be with Ye Zhi and Lu Wei, he will not object.
Without the two of them, there would be no Ye Xiaoding today.
Ye Zhi bowed her head and said, "Okay, then please say hello to Sister Yuqiong for me and ask her to take care of herself. Brother, you are in charge of so many projects now, you should also take care of yourself."
Ye Zhenhua: "You too, stop staying up all night drawing."
"good."
Space base.
The old professor looked at the application on the table, took off his glasses, and asked the tall, thin, handsome young man opposite him again: "Are you sure you want to be transferred to the launch base on Qiongzhou Island?"
Then the old professor said, "Xiao Ding, you are my most proud student. Right now, our side is the top priority of the organization. The international situation is complicated, and the Qiongzhou Island base may be in a backup state for the next 20 years. Whether it is resources or equipment, there is no way to compare with here. If you can persist here, with your ability, you will definitely have a place in the future."
Ye Xiaoding raised his dark eyes slightly and looked at the old professor, and said firmly: "Professor, I have thought clearly, I want to go to the Qiongzhou base. Scientific research is useful anywhere. Although the Qiongzhou Island base is still under construction, our direction is the same."
Then, Ye Xiaoding requested again: "Professor, I hope you can approve it."
The old professor sighed softly, then asked tentatively, "I know you spent some time growing up on Qiongzhou Island when you were a kid. Is there someone you care about there?"
Hearing this, Ye Xiaoding's mouth corners suddenly raised a beautiful arc and nodded: "Yes, a very important person."
The old professor waved his hand, then picked up a pen next to the application form, wrote the word "approved" in a cool way, and handed it to Ye Xiaoding, saying, "Okay, I hope you can also use your strengths at the Qiongzhou base."
Ye Xiaoding took the form handed over by the old professor with both hands and said, "Thank you, professor. I will definitely live up to the mission entrusted to me by the organization."
"good."
…
As the Spring Festival approaches, the family compound is filled with a festive atmosphere.
Ye Zhi took the children to the street for two consecutive days and bought a lot of New Year's goods. Every year, the children would go to the beach in the staff quarters to set off fireworks, so the children also bought a lot of fireworks themselves.
After the New Year's goods were prepared, Ye Zhi woke up the children early in the morning on New Year's Eve, intending to ask them to help boil water so that they could slaughter chickens and ducks and pluck duck feathers together.
Then we have to put up couplets and window flowers, there are so many things to do.
As soon as the winter vacation came, the children of the Lu family slept in almost every day. Even the bugle calls from the military camp could not wake them up. Every time Lu Wei simply pulled the curtains and lifted the quilt, the children would start screaming like pigs being slaughtered.
Ye Zhi followed their instructions and went into their rooms and opened the curtains of her two daughters, while Lu Wei went to the doors of her two sons' rooms.
Suddenly, screams broke out in the gatehouse. Lu Wei cursed in dissatisfaction, "How lazy! When your eldest brother was a child, he was not as lazy as you are now. He got up early to run exercises."
Lu Xingyun rubbed his eyes and murmured dissatisfiedly: "Dad, my eldest brother said that he was miserable before. He was pulled up by you in his dreams. He still remembers you now!"
Lu Xingzhou yawned, "That's right. You still have to wake me up to run exercises in such a cold weather. Big brother said you are too cruel."
Lu Wei folded his arms and looked at his two sons sleeping in a chicken coop on the bed. He felt annoyed no matter how he looked at them. He sneered, "It's so cold in Qiongzhou Island. Everyone, get up and boil a pot of water in the kitchen in ten minutes."
Lu Xingyun: "Are Lu Zhixia and Lu Zhiqiu up yet? Why aren't they the ones going to boil water?"
Lu Wei: "Stop nagging me, hurry up and get up, you guys are all causing trouble!"
Lu Zhixia and Lu Zhiqiu over there didn't seem to be so grumpy when waking up. They got up on their own after Ye Zhi called them twice.
After getting up, I started to tear down last year's couplets and then put up new ones.
Seeing that the children were all awake, Ye Zhi went to the yard to wash the leeks for making dumplings. Just as she turned on the tap, she suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from outside the yard door -
"Aunt, I'm back."
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