Huang Wanzhen called Xiuqing to the counter, picked up her handbag, and followed Zhang Dongqian out the door.
When they got there, Huang Wanzhen finally understood why it was so cheap. The house had obviously not been lived in for a long time, and half of the main room had collapsed. "This house has collapsed."
"Manager, didn't you say you were here to practice shooting? You don't live here anyway."
Huang Wanzhen understood this, but she still felt disgusted. "If I get tired, there's no place to rest."
Zhang Dongqian pointed to the west wing and said, "This wing is good. I'll tidy it up for you and put some wooden furniture in it. It can be used as a place to rest."
Huang Wanzhen still shook her head. "It's not worth more than twenty dollars. If we hadn't rented it, it would definitely not be rented out. Go and negotiate the price."
Zhang Dongqian nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. If you think it's okay, I'll negotiate the price. If you don't think it's okay, I'll look for another one."
Huang Wanzhen finally nodded. "The most important thing is that it's cheap. If it's cheap enough, it'll be fine." Huang Wanzhen touched her chin and cut the price in half. "I'll offer thirteen dollars a month. See if you can rent it."
Zhang Dongqian continued to nod, "Okay, I understand. Can you give me a base price? What's the price above which you won't rent it?"
Huang Wanzhen stretched out her hand and slapped him. "Fifteen dollars!"
That night, Zhang Dongqian brought back a letter saying that the monthly rent was fourteen dollars, and he had already paid a month's deposit. The contract would be officially signed the next day.
There was a place to practice shooting, but a new problem arose. When Huang Wanzhen bought a gun, Heli Foreign Trade Company gave her twenty bullets, but they were all used up in a short while.
As a last resort, Huang Wanzhen took the time to go to a foreign company and spent seventy dollars to buy five hundred rounds of bullets.
Busy days always pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the Little New Year has passed. This year, Huang Wanzhen has learned her lesson and put the purchase of holiday gifts for employees on the agenda early. "Mom, what do you think is the most appropriate gift for the guys this New Year?"
"I heard from Xiulan that we received a lot of dollars last year, so we should get the same amount this year. Is there anything more economical than dollars?" Mrs. Huang looked through the small clothes in her hands, measuring them with her hands from time to time.
"I didn't say I wouldn't give out big bucks. I just thought it was tough for everyone this year, so I wanted to give everyone some holiday gifts. I saw other shops were giving out New Year's goods."
"Then give each of them a big pork elbow. It's Chinese New Year! When offering food to others or entertaining guests, pork elbows are indispensable. If you give them a gift, they won't have to spend money to buy one. But when giving New Year's gifts, don't give them a single one. It's unlucky. So you can add some candy."
Huang Wanzhen thought about it and thought that both of them were quite affordable. "Okay, then I'll give them pork elbow and candy. I'll have Zhang Dongqian go to the market to buy them tomorrow."
After finalizing the annual gifts for the employees, Huang Wanzhen turned her gaze to the small dress in Huang Dongshi's hands. "Who did you make this for? It's so small!"
"Your daughter!"
"What? My daughter?" Huang Wanzhen was shocked. "You didn't buy a child without telling me, did you?"
Huang Dong raised her eyelids and glared at Huang Wanzhen. "What you bought outside, how can it compare to what's in your sister's belly?"
Huang Wanzhen breathed a sigh of relief. "Mom, could you please explain clearly next time and call me your niece? It's so scary."
Huang Wanzhen raised her hands and straightened herself. Just as she was about to continue memorizing French words, she heard Mrs. Huang sigh, "Hey! Your sister is in confinement in February, and she's not allowed to sew during the first month of the year. I made this for the baby in advance, and now that the baby is about to be born, that Qiu family kid still won't give your sister a name."
Huang Wanzhen wondered, "Qiu Guangrong is not young anymore, and he still hasn't married?"
Huang Dongshi had been corresponding with Huang Wanshu for the past six months, so she knew something about this matter. "He got married, but died of illness last year. In my opinion, that young man from the Qiu family was a very strong person. Who knows, he might have been the one who killed his wife."
"What? Dead?" Huang Wanzhen's voice suddenly rose.
"Ouch!" Mrs. Huang patted her chest. "I was so scared! Why are you so loud all of a sudden?"
Huang Wanzhen thought of the original book, where Qiu Guangrong married Huang Wanshu, who also died young and was beaten to death by Qiu Guangrong.
"Yes, he is unlucky with his wife. Mother, you are so good at judging people."
Huang Dong looked at Huang Wanzhen in confusion, "I just said that, and you took it seriously?"
Huang Wanzhen turned to face Huang Dongshi, letting her see the seriousness in her eyes. "Mother, others may not take it seriously, but you have to take it seriously. If he is unlucky in marriage, my sister will die if she follows him now."
Mrs. Huang paused fiddling with the small clothes, pondered for a moment, and immediately slapped her thigh, "Oh my, your sister is about to give birth. Childbirth is inherently dangerous. If Qiu Guangrong really is unlucky with his wife, how will your sister survive?"
Mrs. Huang looked at Huang Wanzhen anxiously, "What should we do?"
Huang Wanzhen opened her eyes wide and asked back, "Yes, what should I do?"
Mrs. Huang saw that her daughter had no idea and immediately frowned. After thinking carefully for a while, she made a decision. "Tomorrow I'll have Hai Li send a letter to your sister and ask her to find out about Qiu's horoscope. I'll ask a fortune teller to calculate it. If he's really destined to be unlucky, I won't let your sister have children with him."
The next day, Hai Li went back and said that he did not see Mrs. Qiu. He heard from Mrs. Zhang that Mrs. Qiu had just given birth to a child and it was not convenient for her to go out and see people, so he gave the letter to Mrs. Zhang.
Huang Dongshi almost lost her breath when she heard this. Xiulan was quick to catch her from behind and prevent her from falling to the ground. "Oh my God, she's only been pregnant for seven months! How could she give birth?"
Huang Wanzhen quickly ordered people to send Huang Dongshi back to the backyard of Pigeon Hutong.
"Mom, how are you? Do you need a doctor?"
Mrs. Huang Dong was speechless and just kept crying. Huang Wanzhen had no choice but to take out two silver dollars and give them to Hai Li, saying, "Go to Tong Ren Tang and get a doctor."
Hai Li was also worried that something might happen to Mrs. Huang Dong. He was the one who brought back the news. If Mrs. Huang Dong was in trouble because of this, he could not afford the consequences. He quickly took the money and went to invite a doctor.
Fortunately, Mrs. Huang was just angry and she felt much better after she calmed down. After the doctor came, he took her pulse and prescribed medicine. Huang Wanzhen asked Yu Ya to get the medicine and boil it. After watching Mrs. Huang drink it and lie down, she tiptoed out the door.
The Chinese New Year was approaching and business in the shop had become quiet. Huang Wanzhen simply distributed New Year's goods to everyone and then gave them a holiday.
In order to comfort the sick Mrs. Huang Dong, Huang Wanzhen approached Cheng Qingluan from the detective agency and asked him to help investigate Huang Wanshu's situation.
The investigation report was not clear. It only stated that in November, Qiu Guangrong went on a business trip to Tianjin and brought back a woman from a nightclub. When Huang Wanshu found out, she had a big quarrel with Qiu Guangrong. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Huang Wanshu went to find the woman despite being pregnant. After returning to the house in Xinjin Hutong in the evening, she never came out again.
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