Chapter 70
Tao Aihong couldn't say she was completely satisfied with her mother-in-law. She felt that her mother-in-law favored her younger son. As long as Meng Hua was around, Meng Daguo and Meng Eryong had to stand aside.
But Meng Hua was admitted to university and was the pride of the Meng family. Whenever Tao Aihong went out, she would always praise her brother-in-law.
My brother-in-law went out to study and has not come back for several years. Among the two sons in the family, my mother-in-law obviously favors Meng Daguo more. She invested in a pig farm for Meng Daguo and in a clothing store for Jiao Huilan.
Even though she had to share some money at the end of the year, she felt that her mother-in-law loved Jiao Huilan more.
Tao Aihong complained in her heart, but she was not a fool. After the quarrel with Meng Eryong, she finally figured things out.
It's useless to argue with your mother-in-law. She has three sons, and one more or one less won't make much difference. Even without Meng Eryong, she still has Meng Hua and Meng Daguo.
Besides, the mother-in-law paid for the children's food, clothing, and household expenses. She never asked them for money when they bought electric fans, refrigerators, and washing machines.
My mother-in-law also paid for the house.
She received all the year-end bonuses. It is good enough for her to be a good mother-in-law! You can't find such a mother-in-law in the whole world, let alone in the county.
Tao Aihong complained that it was necessary for internal struggle in order to prevent the mother-in-law's money from going into the eldest wife's pocket.
In her heart, however, she was very satisfied with her mother-in-law.
On the contrary, her mother always said that she was the only daughter of the family, but all the money was spent on her brother and she never cared about her life or death.
It would be fine if her mother favored boys over girls, and she didn't expect her mother to give her a penny. But what was too much was that when the children returned to their grandmother's house, her mother was reluctant to give them even a piece of candy and spent all her money on her brother's children.
Tao Aihong was not polite at all:
"No matter how little my mother-in-law earns, she has this family in her heart. She treats everyone equally. What the eldest child has, the second child's family will also have. She raised all the children without us having to worry about anything. She also gives us money at the end of the year. She wanted to buy a washing machine and a refrigerator. My mother-in-law said that there are many children in the family and it is too tiring for my eldest sister-in-law and me to wash clothes. Buying a washing machine will make us feel relieved. Buying a refrigerator will make it comfortable for adults and children to have cold beer, watermelon, popsicles and soda in the summer."
Zhao Ying had a dark face because she was jealous of Zhen Guizhi's money.
How could she not be jealous? As soon as the policy was relaxed, Zhen Guizhi went to the county seat to open a snack shop, and people from all over the county went there to buy things.
Zhao Ying was jealous and often complained to others that she was a widow and instead of staying at home, she dragged her whole family out to die. Not only was it embarrassing, but she would be arrested and criticized sooner or later.
Instead of being criticized, Zhen Guizhi took away all her relatives and friends. Zhao Ying waited and waited, but her daughter never spoke.
Zhao Ying thought, shouldn’t the money-making be enjoyed by family members?
Tao Jiang can't do heavy work, but he is Tao Aihong's biological brother. Zhen Guizhi can help her old neighbor who has no blood relationship with her, so why doesn't she help Tao Jiang?
It's fine if Zhen Guizhi doesn't say anything, but is Tao Aihong also a fool? She never mentioned asking her brother to go to the county town, and she didn't think about her family when it comes to making money. This girl was raised in vain.
Tao Aihong was also very stingy. She was always reluctant to give her parents money when she went back to her parents' home. She would give them gifts if they didn't give her money. Zhao Ying had hoped for many times that she would empty her in-laws' home and bring snacks home for her eldest nephew.
She, on the other hand, was so chopped up that she was reluctant to even take the moldy cake home.
How could Zhao Ying not be angry? Even when she was angry, Tao Aihong came home to show off her washing machine and refrigerator. Zhao Ying was lucky that she didn't drive her out of the house with a broom.
"You silly girl, your mother-in-law is wasting money like this, and you don't know how to save some money! The Meng family's money is really endless, why don't you think about your mother who has to eat coarse food, and your brother who suffers so much."
Tao Aihong blinked her eyes. Is that all? Why didn't she mention her skinny nephew?
"How can spending money on your own family be considered a waste? Spending money on other people is a waste! My mother-in-law bought us a washing machine and a refrigerator, at least we can use them and enjoy them. The money was given to you and my brother, do I hear a sound?"
Zhao Ying was so angry that he picked up a fire tongs.
"You lose money! You lose money! It's such a big store, but you don't even know how to bring your own family members in! Is your brother worse than Meng Eryong or Meng Daguo?"
Tao Aihong thought about it and nodded firmly.
"That's a long way off!"
"You loser! Your brother is the smartest one. When he was in the first grade of elementary school, his teacher praised him for his math skills. Take your brother to manage the money. Don't ask for too much every month, just give him thirty or fifty yuan."
Tao Aihong's eyes widened, thinking that her mother was really arrogant.
Just give him thirty or fifty yuan, why doesn't he go to heaven!
If she brought Tao Jiang over there, he would steal everything from her store.
"What money can he care about? When I was in school, I saved up only 50 cents in a semester and wanted to buy a new schoolbag, but he stole it all from me without leaving me a penny. Let him settle the bill? Do you think I'm stupid?"
Zhao Ying was so angry that he stared at her. When did the water in this girl's brain get cleared out? Why is she not as easy to deceive as before?
"You fool! Do you think my mother is doing it for your brother? She is doing it for you! She is afraid that you are in your husband's house and there is no one to help her, so your money will be defrauded by your husband's family. Your mother-in-law is partial and earns 100 yuan, so I will give it to you 30 yuan, give your boss 70 yuan, you are such a heartless girl, you feel that people love you. If your brother goes, he can at least give you a guarantee and tell you if there is any problem in the account. Isn’t this better than outsiders? "
In the past, Tao Aihong could really be persuaded by her.
But Tao Aihong is not stupid. She has a talent for numbers. Although she has never managed the family account book, the account book is there. This is just a small shop, not a big enterprise, so there is no need to be cautious.
Tao Aihong looked at the account book and found that all the household accounts were clear at a glance, and there was no mismatch.
Tao Jiang is a burden. Even if her mother-in-law only gives her 30 yuan, it is much better than her mother who doesn't give her a penny and her brother who only wants to steal her money.
Tao Aihong couldn't eat oil or salt, and Zhao Ying was helpless.
Tao Aihong seldom goes back to her parents' home and she misses her mother's presence. She is a thick-skinned person and can act as if nothing happened even after a quarrel here.
"Mom, let's stew an old hen tonight. The chicken you stew tastes better than the one my mother-in-law makes."
Stewed old hen? You come here empty-handed and still want to eat old hen?
The hens in the country are used to lay eggs!
We are so used to the good life that we don't know the hardship of having to eat coarse food.
Zhao Yingxin said that he didn’t even give it to his own sons and grandsons, so how could he give it to his daughter?
She rolled her eyes and said, "No chicken!"
"Where's the chicken?"
"The chicken is so mad at her useless girl that she is vomiting blood and can't eat."
Tao Aihong: ???
It was not yet the end of the first month of the lunar year and business was not busy. Zhen Zhen was fully focused on the newly opened clothing store.
Jiao Huilan was a capable person. After the Meng Dazhu brothers had renovated the shop, she sorted out the clothes and put them on the shelves according to categories without using them for a day. She also covered the walls with background cloths and hung up the clothes that needed to be hung.
The new clothes gave her a lot of inspiration, and she also made the samples from the fabric store early on. It only took her 7 days to finish everything.
On the opening day, Zhen Zhen planned to hold an opening event.
She set off some firecrackers, hung a red banner, and placed a few flower baskets at the door to make it more festive and let passers-by know that her new store was opened.
The firecrackers and banners were given to Meng Daguo and Meng Eryong, and the flower basket was given to Tao Aihong. Just after the work was assigned, Zhen Ersao came over on her bicycle.
"His aunt." Zhen's second wife got off the bicycle.
"Second aunt." Meng Nan greeted.
"Has Daya started school yet?"
Meng Nan curled his lips, "School has started. Second Aunt, don't call me Daya, I'm Meng Nan now."
"Okay, okay, from now on, Second Aunt will call you Meng Nan."
Zhen's second wife brought some salted duck eggs to Zhen Zhen. They were freshly pickled at home. Knowing that Zhen Zhen didn't like food that was too salty, she picked them up a few days ago and gave them to her to eat with steamed buns.
Zhen Zhen took the salted duck eggs and handed them to Jiao Huilan.
"The duck eggs are good this year. I cut a few this morning. They are all golden and not too salty. I'm sure you will like them."
Zhen Zhen smiled: "You still care about me and know my taste."
Zhen's second wife smiled and talked about the storefront. She had seen a house near her home, which was similar to Zhen Zhen's house. It was a self-built house close to the road, so it could be considered a storefront.
"There are three storefronts, and two rows of bungalows in front and back, and there is also a yard. I asked someone to look at it, and he said that there is room for an addition on top of the bungalows. When I have more money in the future, I can add another floor and it will become a building."
Zhen Ersao's home is in a good location. There are many employees nearby, so she can make a lot of money by opening a repair shop.
Even if you don't make any money, this land is good.
"What's the price?"
"The house isn't very nice, but the yard is nice, and bigger than yours. I'm selling the house and the land together for 750."
“It’s not cheap.”
Zhenzhen bought this house at a low price.
Firstly, the location here is a little worse than Zhen Ersao's place. It's not particularly good, but it's close to the road and has a good flow of people. Secondly, Zhen Zhen bought a dilapidated house, and she later bought materials and paint to repair the house and reinforce it, and also redid the roof, which cost her one or two hundred yuan.
"It's not cheap. I think the house is just average, except for the good location. When I make money in the future, I can tear it down and rebuild it. It will be a very grand building."
This time, Zhen Ersao came to invite Zhen Zhen's family to come over and take a look. Zhen Zhen couldn't say anything else, so he took Meng Daguo and a few others with him and went there.
When the landlord saw so many people coming, he became a little less aggressive.
"The house is a bit old, but the land is great. If I could build a house on it, I wouldn't sell it no matter how much you offered me."
In the 1980s, self-employment had just begun to emerge, and people’s mindsets had not changed yet. They didn’t know that they could make money by being a self-employed person.
The landlord also didn't know that the house on the roadside could be worth a lot of money.
In recent years, many people have returned to the city, and many families want to buy houses. The prices are not bad, so the landlords have set their sights on their ancestral property.
In another ten years, this piece of land will be worth at least 10,000 or 20,000 yuan. Zhen Zhen hasn't even moved into the house yet, so he asked Zhen Ersao to take it over.
"Most houses are currently owned by the Housing Authority. There are few private houses. If you find a suitable one, buy it. In your words, when you have money, it would be nice to build a building along the street."
Meng Daguo and Meng Eryong both thought it was good.
Zhen Xiangyang and Wang Ling lived with their parents in an old house of only 60 square meters, which was really crowded with six people.
Now that they have their own house, the young couple can move out with their children. It’s not far from their parents’ home, and their parents can help take care of the children on weekdays. What’s wrong with that?
As for problems like leaking roofs, aging walls, and poor drainage, the Meng Dazhu brothers could be asked to fix them.
As long as you spend money, you can get it done.
After hearing what they said, Zhen Xiangyang asked Zhen Ersao to bargain with the landlord. However, the landlord was also stubborn and refused to give a penny cheaper. After wasting their breath, they finally bought the house for 750 yuan.
After buying the house, Zhen Xiangyang asked Meng Dazhui and his brother to renovate the house and do some simple decoration on the facade.
The Meng Dazhu brothers had just finished working in the clothing store and had just free time when they found work. They were very happy and carried their tools to the county town.
They were experienced and thoughtful, and they even drew a simple sketch for Zhen Xiangyang, which scared him.
The Meng Dazhu brothers opened two stores at the beginning of the year, and they have two more stores waiting for renovation. All in all, they can each get more than 30 yuan this month.
Meng Dazhu took the money home, thinking that Zhang Qiaohong would be happy, but she turned her mouth and said in disgust:
“It’s only a few dozen dollars.”
Meng Dazhu's face suddenly turned cold. "What's wrong with a few dozen yuan? Farming at home only makes a dozen yuan a month. I use the money I earn to pay for my daughter's education and buy food for my son. Why is that not good?"
It’s better than before, but Zhou Shufen’s family next door has packed up and moved to the county town.
Zhang Qiaohong's family members found out that Zhou Shufen's business was doing well, and there was a long queue every day for the pork heads that were consigned to Hao Po-po.
"My neighbor from my mother's side said that she could get several thousand! Your aunt is so biased. She helps Meng Dajian but not you. Pan Di gets money from your aunt. Zhou Shufen can make several thousand a year. Her family will soon become a ten thousand yuan household! What about us? I gave birth to four children for you, and you have two sons to support, and you only give me this little money, which is not even worth a finger of someone else's."
Meng Dazhu works as a decorator for a shop, and his job is hard.
But he never complained no matter how hard the work was, because he felt that the future was foreseeable. Who doesn't want to come home after a hard day's work to a warm bed with a wife and children?
Zhang Qiaohong used to be a nice person, and she used to chat and laugh with Zhou Shufen. But ever since Zhou Shufen made money cooking pork heads, Zhang Qiaohong seemed like a different person.
"Why don't you mention that Zhaodi was admitted to university? Zhang Qiaohong, let me tell you, my aunt and I have no blood relationship at all. My uncle died early, and my aunt could have remarried. If she is good to our family, it is out of kindness. If she is not, we can't say anything."
"But she is good to Meng Dajian, but not to you."
"Then you don't have Zhou Shufen's ability!"
"I don't know how to cook pork head, but your aunt asked Gou Zi's mother and Zhang Cuihua to make pickled vegetables and chili sauce. Strangers can help, but we can't help ourselves!"
Zhang Qiaohong was really obsessed. Even Meng Dazhu knew that Gou Zi Niang's chili sauce and Zhang Cuihua's pickled vegetables were delicious.
This year his aunt is going to open a food factory, and the pickled vegetable chili sauce made by these two people is popular wherever they go.
Meng Dazhu knew that he didn't have this ability, and he wasn't jealous. But Zhang Qiaohong, on the other hand, kept staring at him every day. How could he live like this?
Meng Dazhu was too lazy to pay attention to her. He was so angry that he rode his bicycle to the county town, intending to set up a bed at the construction site and sleep there for the night.
After the first month of the lunar year, clothing stores and fabric stores opened together. Meng Daguo bought several strings of firecrackers and connected them together. They went off ten thousand times, and the streets were covered with red colored paper.
There are two rows of flower baskets at the door, which were purchased by Tao Aihong. "Focus Women's Clothing Fabrics" is written on the door.
The name of the store was thought up by Jiao Huilan, and Tao Aihong also agreed.
Zhen Zhen originally wanted to come up with a high-sounding name. Even though it is just an ordinary women's clothing store now, there is no guarantee that it will not be able to go nationwide and to the world in the future. But then she thought, let's talk about the future. The people in the county can't read, so of course the simpler the name, the better.
Last year, two food stores that imitated Good Mother-in-law closed down. At the beginning of this year, four or five more stores opened, and this street is more lively than before.
As the firecrackers were set off and the flower baskets were placed, coupled with the large flow of customers at Good Mother-in-law, many people who wanted to join in the fun crowded into the store.
The unit price in the women's clothing store is high, so people look more than they buy.
It's different at the fabric store. Department stores require invoices and sell Dacron for more than ten yuan per meter, but here you don't need invoices and only sell it for 10 yuan per meter. There is a 20% discount during the opening promotion, so it costs 8 yuan per meter, and the styles are newer than those in the department stores.
This material feels good and can be used to make shirts or skirts.
There are four styles that can be worn by men and women, older people and young people.
Customers swarmed into the fabric store.
Tao Aihong yelled:
"It's half the price of the department store, and you can buy it without a ticket. If you buy it, you'll make a profit! Buy it for yourself, for your partner, for your children, for your parents. The more you buy, the more you make! If you don't know what style it is, look up at the ready-made clothes on the left wall. They are all made from our own materials."
The customer didn't notice it at first, but when he looked up, he was shocked. He thought they could only make traditional styles, but he didn't expect they could make so many styles.
There must be more than ten kinds, right?
Don't say that the finished garments are so beautiful that everyone wants to buy a few pieces of fabric. Can this fabric also be used to make fake collars? People with oily necks always have black spots on their shirts. If you make fake collars, you don't have to wash them every day.
This fabric has so many uses.
"Give me 1 meter of each of these two types of cloth!"
"I want 1 meter of each type of fabric!"
"Give me 2 meters of this cloth!"
Tearing the cloth is very easy. A skilled worker can just place a ruler on the cloth and tear it horizontally to cut the cloth.
The accounting was also convenient. One meter of cloth cost 8 yuan, and so on. Tao Aihong tore the cloth and collected the money.
It was still busy in the morning, but in the afternoon, many people heard that Focus fabrics were fashionable and cheap, so they came with their relatives and friends to have a look, and some even came from the countryside specifically to buy fabrics.
The store was crowded with people. Tao Aihong's throat was sore from working so hard that she wished she had eight hands.
Seeing that she was too busy, Zhen Zhen sent Meng Panddi to help.
Meng Pandi is Zhen Zhen's left protector. She is very efficient in her work. She and Tao Aihong negotiate cloth and collect money respectively. With Meng Eryong and Meng Daguo doing odd jobs, everything is done in an orderly manner.
Compared to the fabric store, the women's clothing store seems to be doing less business.
Women's clothing is expensive. The temperature has risen again in the past few days, so cotton jackets are no longer suitable for wearing. Down jackets cannot be sold, and it is too early to buy spring and summer clothes.
In the whole day, Jiao Huilan only sold 5 pieces of clothing, earning more than 20 yuan.
The profit is actually quite a lot, 20 yuan a day, 600 yuan a month, and a profit of 10,000 yuan a year!
In the past, Jiao Huilan would be so excited about this little bit of money that she couldn't sleep at night.
But once people have seen money, they will not care about this little bit of money.
Compared to the crowded fabric store and its sales of thousands of dollars, her place was a little underwhelming.
Zhen Zhen was not worried at all. He specially watched the weather forecast at night and said to Jiao Huilan when he returned home:
"The temperature will drop the day after tomorrow. It will snow this time. As long as it snows, our down jackets will sell well."
These days, Zhen Zhen has been promoting new products at the food store. This year, she plans to open a food processing factory. While the snack shop sells snacks in bulk, she will also package the star products of Good Mother-in-law and market them nationwide.
Zhen Zhen wanted to develop some new products and launch them all at once. The product that sold best would be the main product.
"Mom, what are you doing?"
"I want to make multi-flavored peanuts and frosted peanuts."
There is no shortage of peanuts. Every year when peanuts are on the market, there are as many peanuts as you want in the countryside. Zhen Zhen thinks that since it is hard to find raw materials for other products, it would be better to focus on peanuts.
In her previous life, Zhen Zhen loved to eat multi-flavored peanuts and sugar-coated peanuts, which sold well both in bags and in bulk.
The multi-flavored peanuts are fried. Nowadays, people are starving for oil, so fried foods taste delicious and are definitely popular.
But there is no professional packaging machine.
Zhen Zhen wanted to find someone to go out and ask around to see which state-owned food factory had machines for sale, but then Meng Daguo came in and told her some bad news: the county's pig management had been tightened again.
Zhen Zhen originally planned to expand the scale this year, set up a formal pig farm, and then develop in the direction of a meat processing plant, but it seems that this is not feasible.
However, policies are changing frequently, and she has profitable projects on hand, so she is not in a hurry.
The most urgent thing at the moment is to solve the food packaging problem.
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