Chapter 250
It was a very cold day, so Zhou Jiani didn't let her parents pick her up at the station. Besides, she still had to move things out of the warehouse.
The pork, beef, mutton, pork meatballs, carp, knife fish, two baked chickens, and some fruits that I had saved during this period were put into woven bags. I took them out when I got to the dormitory area and carried them inside.
As soon as I entered the dormitory area, I was surrounded by neighbors.
Why? To pack!
Li Yan's mother, Wu Hongdu, said, "Oh, your brother's backpack has the kids in the dormitory clamoring for it every day."
Zhou Jiani had carried a backpack before, but it didn't cause much sensation, not as much as the twin elementary school students.
The two boys were carried on their backs and stood in the school, looking very proud, and the other children were very curious about them.
Especially the words printed on it and the pattern of Tiananmen Square, you can tell it's from the capital at first glance, it's different.
They all went home and begged their parents to buy it for them, but they went to two department stores and couldn't find it.
At that time, we coaxed our children, saying that there would definitely be some during the Chinese New Year and we would buy them after the Chinese New Year.
As a result, by the end of the year, the bag was still nowhere to be seen in the department store.
It was not convenient to call Zhou Jiani specifically for this matter, so I waited until she came back to ask her how much the package cost, how many feet of cloth coupons were needed, etc.
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Money and tickets are not the main thing. Right now, the goods from the Capital Garment Factory are in short supply."
Half a year has passed, and those two bags are still very popular.
But it’s not surprising when you think about it. Cross-body canvas bags have been around for many years, but they are still a favorite of many people. These two bags have only been on the market for a short time, so they are still fresh.
It is indeed not cheap, much more expensive than a canvas crossbody bag. Many people gave up after asking about the price and thought about buying a crossbody bag for their children instead, which is cheaper.
Some people also had the idea and suggested that they ask Zhou Jiani to help buy things when she returns to the capital after the New Year. They asked her when she would return so that they could send the money and tickets in advance.
Someone even said, "We'll pay for the postage ourselves."
Zhou Jiani nodded and agreed: "Okay, I'll go to the garment factory and ask after the New Year."
"Jiani, thank you so much."
Zhou Jiani always responded to the neighbors' requests with a smile and had a very good reputation in the dormitory area. In addition, due to the conflict with the Liu family, and the Liu family now seemed to be on the verge of collapse, everyone selfishly wanted to get closer to Zhou Jiani and took the initiative to talk about the Liu family.
"The third daughter of the Liu family didn't come back this year, and the fourth child went to work at the mine as a temporary worker and rarely returned to the dormitory. Liu Jiefang originally had a chance to propose this year, but the two daughters made a fuss, and that plan was ruined..."
After finally being able to move, Liu Ailing was involved in an impersonation incident, and as a result, he couldn't move anymore.
Zhou Jiani didn't like Liu Ailing, but she wouldn't say anything behind her back. She smiled, changed the topic, chatted with everyone for a few minutes, and then went upstairs with her things.
When she went upstairs, she ran into Lu Cuilan. Lu Cuilan sank the corners of her mouth, turned her face to the side, walked past her and went down the stairs.
When Jiang Xinfeng saw her granddaughter coming back, she smiled and asked Xiao Zhang and Yue Cuiyun what day they left, whether the doors and windows of the house were closed, and whether the stove was sealed. Zhou Jiani told her everything one by one, and then told her grandmother that she had rented a shop.
"This shop is approved by the Industry and Commerce Bureau. It's legal and reasonable. I applied for it, and they praised me for my initiative. With a shop and a license, we don't have to be on guard against anyone in the future... After the New Year, we'll renovate the shop and move the sewing machine over. The weather will get warmer, and then we can let Aunt Zhang and sister-in-law go to work in the shop, and we can get things in order."
Jiang Xinfeng was delighted to hear that it was legal and reasonable, and said, "If I had known earlier, I would have gone with you so I could have seen what the shop looked like."
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "We've already rented it, we can't run away. It's not too late for you to go and see it after the New Year."
Jiang Xinfeng nodded: "Go, I will go with you after the New Year, so we can finish it and open it sooner."
She felt more fulfilled staying in the capital than at home, and she could help her granddaughter and had people to talk to. As soon as the old lady came back, she told her son and daughter-in-law how successful Jiani's small business had been this year, and also expressed her intention to visit after the New Year.
Her granddaughter even pays her a salary.
She didn't want it at first, but Jiani said, everyone works, if others have it, you have to have it too, it's more practical to earn your own money and spend it.
The old lady picked up the phone.
In the afternoon, Yu Huifang and Zhou Wanli came back and asked her in a low voice about the situation of her small business.
In fact, Zhou Jiani had told this story during the summer vacation, and the old lady also told it again when she came back, but I still wanted to hear it again from my daughter, it would be fun to listen to it.
Zhou Jiani told her parents about it and the shop, and said, "I'll go to the factory to place an order soon, so I'll prepare it first..."
Zhou Wanli and his colleagues don’t know how to run a store, nor do they worry about whether they can make money or not. They only care about whether it is safe. As long as they can ensure safety, they will feel relieved.
Anyway, my daughter is capable and can do things, so let her do what she wants.
Isn’t there a university to back you up? The government will assign you a job after graduation.
Li Yan came to play with her. This year, she was in a different state and looked much more energetic.
Wang An couldn't stand the pressure of being urged to take the exam, and the two broke up peacefully.
Now Li Yan can finally focus on her studies.
Zhou Jiani asked about the place where she had been working in the countryside before and whether she had any particularly reliable friends there. She said, "I want to import some bamboo weaving products. If we can cooperate well, we may purchase them on a long-term basis in the future."
Li Yan was surprised: "What are you going to do?"
"Open a shop."
Li Yan was shocked: "Aren't you still in college?"
Zhou Jiani: "Hire someone to help watch over him so he doesn't miss school."
Li Yan was so shocked that she didn't say anything for a long time.
In her opinion, getting into university means that the rest of your life is guaranteed, and she doesn't seem to understand why Jiani should put in that extra effort.
And, opening a store?
“Will someone report it?”
It seemed that the reform and opening-up policy had not penetrated Li Yan's heart. Zhou Jiani smiled and explained it to her. Li Yan felt that she had gained some knowledge and murmured with a smile, "What's going on in your head?"
She knew about the reform and opening up, but she didn't think about it in detail, nor did she consider the changes it could bring to ordinary people like her.
From the moment she was admitted to university, she felt, like most other students, that her future was secure. She just had to study hard and wait for job assignment after graduation.
I didn't think about anything else.
Now when she heard Zhou Jiani talk about opening a shop, and that she was still hiring people to run the shop while attending school, it really opened a new door for her.
She had many concerns, such as whether the person she found was reliable, and what if she didn't work hard and couldn't make any money?
But she didn't dare to ask, so she mentioned what Zhou Jiani asked her to do, and said, "Then I'll go out and make a phone call later."
It is better to find local cadres and give them feedback, which will make things easier.
Zhou Jiani: "I'll reimburse you for your phone bill."
Li Yan refused, but Zhou Jiani insisted, so they went to the post office together to make a phone call.
Zhou Jiani also called the Qianjin Brigade and Bin County Weaving Factory respectively, and directly explained that she wanted to open a store and purchase goods, which shocked Liu Tong and Li Jingdang who answered the phone.
But the two of them accepted it faster than Li Yan, and even felt the same way in their hearts: He is worthy of being Comrade Xiao Zhou!
In addition to purchasing goods, Zhou Jiani also planned to ask for some photos and roughly stated her requirements. She also asked for the negatives she had taken before and left at the Qianjin Brigade to be sent to her in the capital and she would ask someone to develop a few of them.
Zhou Jiani also asked the team to call Zhao Mei to answer a phone call and asked Zhao Mei to tell Zhao Hai to prepare goods for her.
Zhao Mei agreed immediately and asked a few simple questions, which were nothing more than concern for An's safety. After getting Zhou Jiani's assurance, she felt relieved.
Zhou Jiani also suggested taking a few photos from Zhao Hai's side, and asked a photographer to go to his home to take a few photos of Zhao Hai making rice noodles or vermicelli, and then take a photo of them drying in the sun.
When the time comes, I'll wash it and send it to her in the capital.
Li Yan listened to Zhou Jiani's orderly arrangements for the purchase of goods after the New Year. No one on the other end of the phone mentioned the so-called deposit or payment for goods. It seemed that the person on the other end of the phone would do whatever Zhou Jiani arranged, without considering issues like deposit or payment for goods at all.
What a trust this requires!
Li Yan's call was quite tortuous. She tried to transfer the call several times but failed. It took her almost forty minutes to get through.
They are happy to have people buy their bamboo products, but Zhou Jiani doesn't want all of them. She only wants bamboo baskets that can be used in the north, even if they are of ordinary style.
She estimated the time and directly left the address of the store in the capital, asking the other party to write to her for a quote. If there were product photos, she would send them. If the cost of photos was too high, she would find someone with good drawing skills to draw the general style and attach the quote.
Then both parties sign the contract.
The trip back and forth took time, but fortunately Zhou Jiani had local woven products and agricultural products to back her up, so she didn't have to rush for bamboo products.
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Jiani paid the phone bill and left the post office with Li Yan.
Li Yan sighed, "Jia Ni, I really regret choosing to study locally for Wang An. I think with my grades, I can definitely get into a lesser school in the capital. If I had studied in the capital, I could have learned something from you."
Zhou Jiani laughed: "What's wrong with you? You're not bad, why do you want to learn from me?"
"I'll learn from your courage and insight." Li Yan put on her gloves and put her arm around Zhou Jiani. "Just now, it suddenly occurred to me that we're both human beings, but you can walk many different paths, while I've already decided to stick to one path."
The path of life does not necessarily have to be determined by the country's allocation. Why doesn't she create a fork in the road for herself?
Zhou Jiani felt embarrassed to accept this praise, as it was something she had paid for her entire life.
This year, Hong Ming returned to his aunt's house and carried that backpack on his shoulders.
The last time he received a schoolbag from his cousin, he wrote a letter to express his gratitude. He also liked it very much. When he had no classes, he would take out his books and put some miscellaneous things in it when he left school.
The brother and sister also talked about the situation in their respective schools.
On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhou Jiani went to the factory and made some phone calls to wish people a happy new year.
At exactly ten o'clock, Qiu Zeming called, and the young couple chatted on the phone for more than ten minutes.
In the remaining time, Zhou Jiani used all the connections she could make, and also went to pay New Year's greetings to Section Chief Xin of a spinning factory, and discussed cooperation by the way.
Zhou Jiani's own achievements are now very impressive. Old friends like her are very happy to keep in touch with her, a promising top student from Hua University, so she also successfully got a few pieces of defective floral cloth without asking for tickets.
She also went to the warehouse at the Second Spinning Mill, but there was nothing particularly beautiful.
The Second Spinning Mill produces less printed cloth, otherwise it would be like guarding a resource library.
Thinking about the business license, Zhou Jiani waited for Bai Haoyang to come to Qiyang to pay New Year's greetings to his future father-in-law, and told him to ask about it after returning to the capital.
A few days later, Bai Haoyang returned to the capital. After inquiring at the Industry and Commerce Bureau, he called Zhou Jiani and said, "They told us to wait a little longer."
Just wait, but Bai Haoyang is a little anxious.
He had nothing to do these days so he went to pay New Year's greetings to all his partners. As a result, as soon as they saw him, they urged him to deliver the goods, but all the goods they had had were delivered before the New Year.
It just so happened that the flowers sold particularly well during the Chinese New Year and were out of stock in the shopping mall.
Zhou Jiani thought for a moment, hung up the phone, and called Lü Minjuan first. The call went through the street over there, and it took a long time for the call to be connected. Then she asked the other person to call Lü Minjuan.
But there was no way to contact Yue Cuiyun because there was no telephone in their village.
After contacting Lv Minjuan, Zhou Jiani first wished her a happy new year, and then asked her if there were any relatives at home who had not yet visited.
Listening to the words and the tone, Lu Minjuan could tell, and said, "There are not many relatives at home, and they have all been visited. What's wrong, Jiani?"
"When do you plan to return to the capital?"
Lu Minjuan immediately understood Zhou Jiani's meaning and said, "I'll go back and tell my mom to see which day I can buy a ticket. I'll leave once I buy one."
I just don't like staying at home.
Zhou Jiani hurriedly gave her Bai Haoyang's home phone number and asked them to contact Bai Haoyang if they arrived early. She left the key to her house with Bai Haoyang and there was ready-made floral fabric at home, so they could start work at any time.
Then he told Bai Haoyang to wait at home.
She also checked the train tickets and told her family that she would pack her luggage and return to the capital first. She would come back during the Lantern Festival and go back with her grandmother.
She arrived in the capital only half a day later than Lu Minjuan.
When he saw Feng Ya, he gave her a red envelope.
Since Yue Cuiyun was not there, Lv Minjuan temporarily used another sewing machine. She had learned how to do it after watching for so long, and since school had not started yet, she also helped out by doing some.
The work here officially started, and Zhou Jiani let them busy themselves. She went to the Qiu family to pay New Year's greetings, and then went to Professor Fu's house. After that, she started riding bikes with Bai Haoyang to find someone to order furniture and plaques.
Bai Haoyang also invested in the small department store that he was planning to open. He didn't have much money and only held a 10% stake, but he was very motivated at the moment.
Once the furniture is ordered, hire someone to decorate it.
There is no need to talk about decoration. Just lay a cement floor and paint it white. When the counters and shelves are completed, put them inside. When the subsequent goods arrive, put the goods on the shelves and open for business.
To put it simply, a small department store sells groceries. It doesn't pay attention to aesthetics, as long as it is neat.
Yue Cuiyun came on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, and Lv Minjuan changed her job to stringing beads and gluing sequins, so she had no shortage of work to do.
Zhou Jiani asked Zhang Lihai about the route he had taken and what local specialties were available along the way. She made a list and gave him 500 yuan in payment, asking him to help her purchase the goods.
I brought my grandmother over before school started and let her take care of the household affairs temporarily while she was busy at school for a few days.
After the ordered furniture was finished, I took some time to clean up the shop. I took Aunt Zhang and Yue Cuiyun to clean the shop and invited the old man from the Qiu family to come and see it. The old man asked the guard to drive over directly and stayed nearby for a long time.
Zhou Jiani found it funny and touching.
The old man was also a busy man, but he was afraid that she would be bullied for opening a shop, so he came to support her.
What made her depressed was that the business license had not been issued yet.
When Zhou Jiani went to ask, they said they were not deliberately making things difficult for her. It was just because there was no precedent. Even the layout and design of the business license had to be discussed in meetings over and over again, so the process was still going through.
Zhou Jiani: "Then can you give me a certificate of legal operation first? We can open the store first and pay taxes normally during this period. Once the license is obtained, we can hang up the official license?"
After consulting with their superiors, the staff wrote out a list. Zhou Jiani specially bought a small photo frame, put the list inside, and locked it in the cabinet. If the bad guy reports it later, this will be proof that their business is legal.
After that, she made one phone call after another and coordinated the transportation team. Three or four days later, the goods she ordered from Qianjin Brigade and Binxian Weaving Factory were delivered.
He also asked Zhao Haiding for rice noodle paste, and he also gave Zhou Jiani half a bag of raw peanuts.
This time we have to seriously calculate the shipping costs, which will also be included in the cost of the goods.
After the goods were put in the store, Zhou Jiani clearly listed the selling price of each item for them and explained the service guidelines.
During this time, someone came in to ask a question, but Zhou Jiani didn't say anything. She asked Aunt Zhang and Yue Cuiyun to try to talk to the other person. After the customer left, she pointed out the areas that needed improvement.
So by the opening day, the two of them were able to handle inquiries from two or three customers at the same time.
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