Chapter 6

Song Shu was a little overwhelmed by this sentence, and a flush of heat suddenly rose on her face. She muttered to herself in her heart that although they had already obtained a marriage certificate, their relationship was only that of a nominal couple, far inferior to that of her eldest brother and sister-in-law.

Chen Zonghao glanced at her red face and did not continue to dwell on this issue. He asked, "How are you going to do the renovation?"

Seeing that he changed the subject, Song Shu breathed a sigh of relief. She thought for a moment and replied, "I want to replace the roller shutter door in the front with a few floor-to-ceiling windows, so that customers outside can see the clothes in the store at a glance. I also want to repaint the walls white and install a few more long light strips to make the whole store look brighter."

She didn't plan to do a major renovation right away. Although the cost of renovation at that time was not as outrageously high as it would be in later times, her wallet would not allow her to do so, even though she also wanted to replace the left wall with glass.

Song Shu continued, "As for the store, let's first build a few floor-standing wooden racks to hang clothes."

After listening to her, Chen Zonghao said, "I'll take care of the renovation for you. We can find a few people to finish it in two or three days."

Song Shu's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she said bluntly, "Thank you for the trouble."

Even if he didn't ask, she would have liked to ask him where to find the decoration materials and how to contact the workers, because she was a complete novice in this area, and it would be much more convenient to have him, a local, to help her.

Chen Zonghao looked at her with eyes sparkling in them, just like Jiahui's expression when she got a favorite toy, and curled the corners of his mouth.

"When the time comes, just calculate the money needed for materials and workers and give it to me." When Song Shu thought of her savings, she felt that starting a business was not that easy. This decoration might have cost most of her money.

"Do you have money?" the man asked, his tone as calm as if he was saying the weather was good today, without a trace of sarcasm.

After hearing this, Song Shu felt like an arrow hit her chest. Look at this man. How could he say such cold and realistic words?

Song Shu opened her mouth, unable to refute, and murmured unconvincedly: "I will make a lot of money in the future."

At this time, Jiahui next to her waved her spoon and said, "Sister made a lot of money and bought a house."

After hearing this, Song Shu blushed and couldn't help covering her face and wailing, "Jiahui, you don't have to flatter your sister so much at this time."

"Ha ha."

Song Shu heard the hearty laughter coming from the man opposite. The man laughed happily, his brows were relaxed, and his sharp brows seemed gentle.

Chen Zonghao smiled for a while and then stopped smiling at the right time. If he continued to smile, the woman opposite him would be embarrassed. He straightened his face and explained to her: "You don't need money for the initial investment? You can keep a record of the decoration fee first. Well, you can write it down in your little notebook and pay me back later."

The latter part of the sentence was just a joke. Apparently the man still remembered what she said last night about paying him rent.

Song Shu said unhappily: "I will write it down in my little notebook."

Chen Zonghao spread his hands and said, "Okay, whatever you want."

Although Song Shu felt embarrassed by what he said, she thought that if she could save the decoration fee, she could invest more in clothes and open the stall.

Speaking of money, Song Shu remembered the small bag of money he had someone bring back yesterday, so she said, "I didn't open the money you asked Awen and the others to bring back yesterday. I'll return it to you later."

Chen Zonghao picked up a mouthful of noodles and said casually, as if he didn't care, "I'll give you the money and you can use it."

Song Shu refused: "No, this money is not mine, how can I ..."

Chen Zonghao frowned and looked up at her, "My sister-in-law could use it before, why are you me..."

"Stop, okay, I get it." Song Shu interrupted him quickly when she saw his attitude. She was afraid that he would say something shocking again like he did just now, something like "You are my wife, why can't I use this money?"

If this were true, Song Shu felt like she would want to find a hole to crawl into. It was too embarrassing. This guy could really say anything.

Chen Zonghao was interrupted by her and didn't say anything else.

Song Shu suddenly felt the bag of money in her hand getting hot, and she comforted herself that it would be a waste if she didn't use it, at most it could be considered his initial investment.

But how did this man get this money? She didn't know whether he was really a gangster or doing something else, and whether the money came from a legitimate source. After all, the book only briefly mentioned the events before the death of the protagonist's niece.

Perhaps her changing expression made it easy for people to guess what she meant. Chen Zonghao looked at the guilty and embarrassed woman unhappily and said, "Don't worry, the money is clean."

Chen Zonghao said in a playful tone, "Didn't you say that your husband Chen Zonghao is the boss of Causeway Bay? A boss must have a legitimate business."

When Song Shu heard this person was using the nonsense she said last night in a panic to stop her, she opened her mouth and retorted: "I was scaring people for the sake of my life."

As he spoke, his voice dropped, "Fighting and killing are not good."

Song Shu didn't say much else. As a person who grew up in a peaceful era, she didn't approve of this kind of gangster life, but she and he were not relatives or friends, so she had no right to advise him.

The two of them suddenly fell silent. Song Shu lowered her head and didn't know what Chen Zonghao's expression was. She felt a little regretful after she said that. Maybe it was the relaxed atmosphere he showed after breakfast that made her unable to help but say a few more words.

After I said this, I realized that I was meddling in other people's business, and that I didn't know him that well, so my words might have been too one-sided.

Jiahui, who was standing next to her, squinted her round eyes, looking at her sister and then her uncle. Although she didn't understand their conversation, she was very happy. Just now she saw her sister smile, and then her uncle also smiled. Well, they get along really well, and it seems that her sister can stay.

After finishing the noodles, before Song Shu could start to clean up, the man quickly stacked the three bowls together and took them into the kitchen to wash them, leaving a message, "There are a lot of breakfast shops on the street."

Seeing that he didn't seem to mind what she said, Song Shu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. After hearing what he said, she thought about it for a while before she understood what he meant. He just wanted to say that she was not a good cook and could go shopping if she couldn't cook.

She was suddenly angry again, but she endured it because he helped to clean up the dishes and didn't act like a big boss who did nothing. Besides, she didn't plan to cook in the future. She just wanted to please him this morning so that she could talk things over.

Chen Zonghao came out after washing the dishes. He looked at the person half-lying on the dining table for a while and said, "I'll go out and find the materials and labor."

After hearing what he said, Song Shu straightened her back and nodded quickly, "Okay, thank you."

I didn't expect this person to have such a strong execution ability. He would immediately start to solve the things he just decided.

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Looking at the people leaving, Song Shu suddenly felt very motivated and couldn't help but take action.

Walking into the bedroom, Song Shu put the money left by her sister-in-law and the bag of money he gave her together and counted them.

She opened the red plastic bag and poured all the money onto the bed. Song Shu counted the bills one by one. There was quite a lot of money in the bag, a total of five thousand. With the money she had before, she now had nearly ten thousand.

This ten thousand was more than enough to support her clothing store in the early stages, and she had no plans to take big steps all at once.

Song Shu put the money neatly into a plastic bag, then wrapped it in a piece of cloth. She glanced at the desk, opened the drawer, put the money at the bottom, and locked it again.

There is no better way to hide money, but this is not a long-term solution. Song Shu is thinking that she will open a bank card when she has time, which will make it more convenient to do things in the future.

After putting the money away, Song Shu planned to go to Liang Sao to ask if there were any cheap fabrics for sale nearby, and if there were any tailors who could make clothes. In the early days, clothing factories would not accept small orders like hers, so she could only find a few tailors to make clothes for her.

Although she can design and make clothes, she can't finish it all by herself and the speed is not fast enough.

After making a plan, Song Shu went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out a few apples and a bunch of bananas bought yesterday, put them in a bag, and walked towards Liangsao's store holding the fruits in one hand and Jiahui in the other.

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It was just past the breakfast rush hour, and Song Shu saw that there were not many people in the store, so she walked in.

Liang Sao was sitting behind the cashier at this time. When she saw Song Shu coming in, she stood up happily and walked over, laughing heartily, "Shu, have you had breakfast?"

"Sister Liang, have you eaten?" Song Shu greeted her and handed over the bag of fruit in her hand. "This is the fruit I bought yesterday. Sister Liang, please try it."

Liang's wife didn't take the fruit. She glared at me, looking unhappy. She refused and said, "Hey, why do you bring things when you come? You are so polite to your Liang's wife. I am not happy."

Song Shu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said helplessly: "Sister Liang, I'm not being polite to you, but I want to ask you something. You can't come empty-handed when you ask someone to do something. I usually won't be so polite."

Then he let her take the fruit and joked, "Sister Liang, this is the only time. I won't bring anything to you next time. If you don't accept the fruit, I won't be able to ask you for anything else."

Seeing her sincere look, Liang's wife could only accept the fruit and said helplessly, "Okay, I'll accept it this time, but I won't allow it next time."

Song Shu nodded and promised, "I won't do that next time."

Liangsao took the fruit and asked, "What problem did you encounter? Is it urgent?"

Seeing her worried look, Song Shu quickly said, "I didn't encounter any problems. I just learned some skills of making clothes from a tailor in the village. When I came to Hong Kong, I planned to use this skill to make some money and open a clothing store. I came to you to ask where to buy some cheap fabrics and whether there is a tailor who can make clothes."

Liang's wife was relieved when she heard this and praised her, "That's good. You have this skill. At least you can find food to eat. Besides, girls nowadays like to dress up. Girls like me buy clothes every day. When you open a clothing store, I will definitely bring her to take care of your store."

Seeing that Sister Liang was planning to take care of her business before her store even opened, Song Shu found it a little funny and felt warm in her heart, "Then I'd like to thank Sister Liang first."

"Hey, it's nothing." Liang's wife waved her hands and got back to business. "There are cheap fabrics. Since the reform and opening up of the mainland, many factories in Hong Kong have moved to the mainland. Some village houses have opened some small fabric factories. The fabrics there are of good quality and cheap, especially a small fabric factory in Tai Po Village. I can take you to have a look this afternoon."

Song Shu's eyes lit up when she heard this, "That's really too much trouble for you, Sister Liang."

Liang's wife laughed and said jokingly, "What's the problem? I just accepted a bag of fruit from you."

After joking, Liang Sao continued, "As for tailors, there are quite a few. For example, Ah Xiang upstairs was originally a factory worker. She was fired because she had to stay at home to take care of her child. But she has good skills and was once a senior worker in the factory. There are also Qiang Sao and Jian Sao... They are all unemployed and have skills at home. Moreover, they all have sewing machines at home. If they are fast, they can make five or six pieces of clothing a day."

Liang's wife told her about six people in one breath. Most of them were former female workers in the factory who were now unemployed at home due to personal reasons such as having children.

After hearing the information that Liang Sao had, Song Shu was filled with admiration. She felt that the fruit she had sent was not enough, and if she were to do it herself, she might have to go through a lot of detours.

I couldn't help but express my gratitude: "Sister Liang, you really helped me a lot. I will give you a discount when you buy clothes in my store."

Liang's wife was not modest and said, "It's nothing. I have lived in Hong Kong for more than 20 years. Then I will go to the cloth factory with you this afternoon, and when I come back, I will help you ask those sisters whether they will take the job."

Song Shu could only thank him again, agreed with Mrs. Liang on the time to go out in the afternoon, and then said goodbye and went home.

I passed by Fu Bo's store and bought a few magazines, intending to read them at home. The clothes she designed cannot be too detached from the development of this era.