Seeing her younger sister being bullied, Xiao Hongmin could no longer suppress her anger.
“What the hell are you doing, Zhu Aidan?” she snapped.
“She was blocking my way!” Zhu Aidan turned around and glared at the sisters.
“What do you mean, your way? This is the workshop! Who do you think you are?!”
“Did she get hurt or anything? Why are you acting so fierce?”
Xiao Hongmin wanted to rush over, but Zhu Aidan was tall and strongly built, which made her a little afraid. All she could do was raise her voice.
“That was because my sister was quick enough to dodge!”
Xiao Hongyao could see that her second sister was all bark and no bite. At the right moment, she grabbed her arm and gave her enough resistance to make it look as though she was trying to hold her back.
“Second Sister, forget it. Just think of it as being bitten by a dog. We can’t bite back, can we?”
Zhu Aidan immediately jumped to her feet.
“Who are you calling a dog?”
“Whoever thinks it applies to them.”
Xiao Hongmin really got into the act.
“Third Sister, don’t hold me back. Don’t hold me back! Do you really think I’m afraid of someone like her?”
The workers from both sides hurried over to stop them.
“It’s early in the morning. Everyone, calm down. Calm down.”
The team leader, Liu Hui, heard the commotion and walked over. From a distance, she was already scolding them.
“What are you all doing? Don’t crowd around here.”
Zhu Aidan didn’t dare to cause any real trouble either and stood to the side without saying anything.
Liu Hui looked around at everyone.
“We have a heavy workload at the end of the year and need to rush these orders. If we’re slow, the other workshops can’t keep up either. Everyone needs to give it their full attention and finish this batch as soon as possible.”
The tube-making workshop produced the paper tubes used for loading gunpowder and inserting fuses into fireworks and firecrackers.
All fireworks and firecrackers required paper tubes as their basic framework, so the tube-making workshop had plenty of work and a large number of workers.
The work wasn’t dangerous, and it didn’t require much physical strength. It was relatively light work, so most of the workers were women.
Although there were many workers in the workshop, most were women. Small arguments happened from time to time, but they usually amounted to nothing more than verbal quarrels. Fights had never occurred.
Zhu Aidan, however, had a particularly bad temper. For safety’s sake, Liu Hui assigned Xiao Hongyao to the tube-drying section, separating the two of them.
The tube-making process consisted of four stages: cutting paper, rolling the paper into tubes, drying the tubes, and sorting them.
Workers in the drying section were responsible for drying the paper tubes. Once they were dry, they also had to remove any tubes that didn’t meet the required standards.
Although they handled two processes at the same time, it was considered the easiest and least strenuous job in the entire tube-making workshop.
The reason Liu Hui was especially considerate toward Xiao Hongyao, besides the fact that she had just returned to work and might not be able to keep up with the rolling speed, was that Liu Hui was the older sister of Liu Fang, Xiao Yuanyang’s girlfriend. Behind closed doors, they could practically be considered relatives.
On her first day back at work, Xiao Hongyao didn’t dare slack off. She worked alongside the other members of her group.
There was one particularly talkative and funny woman in the group. With all the joking and chatting, the entire morning passed quickly.
On the way home at noon, when they were almost there, Xiao Hongyao quietly asked her second sister,
“Why was Zhu Aidan so hostile toward me this morning?”
“You’ve forgotten?”
Xiao Hongyao shook her head.
“I don’t remember.”
“She thinks Dad caused her father, Zhu Daliang, to die.”
The original Xiao Hongyao’s father, Xiao Zhijun, had originally worked as a warehouse manager for finished products.
One day, he drank while on duty and neglected his responsibilities, resulting in a fire in the warehouse. A huge amount of fireworks and firecrackers were destroyed.
Overwhelmed by regret and guilt, Xiao Zhijun eventually chose to take his own life.
Zhu Aidan’s father had also been a warehouse manager. On the day of the fire, he was originally supposed to be on duty, but he had privately switched shifts with Xiao Zhijun because he had something else to do.
As a result, he was implicated in the accident and punished. While he was suspended from work at home, he suddenly died.
The Zhu family believed that Xiao Zhijun had caused Zhu Daliang’s death, which was why Zhu Aidan hated Xiao Hongyao so much.
“Today is your first day back at work, so I didn’t want to argue with her and bring bad luck. If she ever dares bully you again, come to me. I’ll deal with her.”
Xiao Hongyao’s top priority right now was making money. She didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble either.
“I’ll try to stay away from her.”
When they returned home, their aunt asked whether Third Sister’s first day back at work had gone smoothly.
Xiao Hongmin held back the incident with Zhu Aidan and simply said,
“Fang’s older sister Liu Hui is the team leader in the workshop. She transferred Third Sister to the tube-drying section. The work is relatively easy.”
Hearing that, Grandma Xiao Ganju couldn’t help sighing.
“Then we really have her to thank. Yueying, this weekend, have Yuanyang take that bottle of malted milk powder from the cabinet to Liu Fang’s grandmother. Also, give them a bag of the dried radishes we’ve prepared so they can make pickled vegetables.”
“Got it.”
Tang Yueying had already prepared some winter gifts for her future in-laws.
“We’ll also give them some ginger and chili peppers.”
Liu Fang’s grandfather had passed away before the New Year. The Liu family required everyone to observe mourning for a year, so Xiao Yuanyang and Liu Fang, who were originally supposed to get married earlier that year, had postponed their wedding until the following year.
After lunch, while resting in the bedroom, Xiao Hongyao sat beside the bed and quietly asked her grandmother,
“Grandma, why was Dad drinking that night when he was on duty?”
In the original novel, her father had been an extremely disciplined person who always followed the rules. Normally, he wouldn’t have been the kind of person to drink while on duty.
Xiao Ganju lay on her side on the bed, her eyes darkening slightly.
“You’ve forgotten?”
“I can’t remember.”
“Your father was different from you. He liked drinking a little too much, but he had a high tolerance and never got drunk. That night, he wasn’t originally supposed to be on duty. He had a bit of a cold, so he drank a small cup of liquor at home before going to bed. Then Zhu Daliang suddenly had something urgent to deal with and came to ask your father to switch shifts with him. Your father was softhearted, so he agreed.
“He didn’t expect that after going to the warehouse, his cold made him dizzy, and he drank again. Somehow, he fell asleep.
“Last winter was especially dry. No one knows how the warehouse caught fire in the middle of the night. The sound of the fireworks and firecrackers exploding was like a battlefield. Your father woke up in a daze, but by then it was already too late to put out the fire.”
Xiao Ganju sighed.
“Really, it was all Zhu Daliang’s fault. If he hadn’t switched shifts with your father, your father wouldn’t have ended up in that situation.”
Xiao Hongyao asked, “Does the Zhu family have a big problem with us?”
“Hmph. Zhu Daliang was afraid we’d come after him, so he turned around and blamed us instead. That heartless bastard. What a rotten person!”
Xiao Ganju cursed angrily.
“He deserved to drop dead.”
After understanding the situation, Xiao Hongyao vaguely felt that her father’s death wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
There were simply too many coincidences.
Although people said that a story couldn’t exist without coincidences, precisely because this was a world inside a novel, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some hidden conspiracy behind everything.
She didn’t have the time or energy to investigate it right now. For the moment, all she could do was keep it in mind and investigate when she had the opportunity later.
Just then, a whistle came from outside, followed by someone calling her name.
Judging from the voice, it seemed to be Tong Weiqiang.
It turned out that Tong Weiqiang had successfully completed the task and brought back the approval slip with the official stamp.
Xiao Hongyao immediately hopped onto Tong Weiqiang’s bicycle and went to Sister Zhen’s clothing store.
She handed Liang Zhen the two bottles of liquor that Pan Yunsong had sent over, along with the stamped approval slip from the County Textile Company.
Liang Zhen had also gone to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau that morning to ask an acquaintance about the procedures.
Under the normal process, adding another business category would take half a month. But if they gave a few gifts, they could probably get the new license within a week.
“Would these two bottles of liquor be enough?” Xiao Hongyao asked.
The two bottles were considered decent local liquor, but they still weren’t enough.
Liang Zhen thought for a moment.
“Buy two more packs of Soft Zhonghua. If you can’t find those, get Soft Baisha instead. We need four packs in total. I’ll deliver everything together.”
Xiao Hongyao then went with Tong Weiqiang to the department store to buy cigarettes.
Even with money, they couldn’t get Soft Zhonghua.
In the end, they spent a little over five yuan on four packs of Soft Baisha.
That afternoon, Liang Zhen went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to submit the application. It would probably take about a week to get the new business license.
In the meantime, Xiao Hongyao went to the credit union and withdrew 2,700 yuan.
On Sunday morning, Xiao Hongyao and Tong Weiqiang took the three thousand yuan to Xiao Dejin.
Xiao Dejin wrote them a receipt in return.
He would send the money by bank transfer the next day. On Friday, he and Tong Weiqiang would leave for Guangzhou and return the Wednesday after next.
“This time, besides buying and reselling fabric in Guangzhou, I also plan to bring back a batch of watches. If you want a watch in the future, buy one from me. My goods are good, the styles are new, and the prices are cheap.”
Xiao Hongyao did indeed want to buy a watch, so she immediately smiled.
“I want one. I’ll choose one when you come back.”
This was Tong Weiqiang’s first trip away from home, and he was extremely excited about going to Guangzhou.
He turned to Xiao Hongyao.
“I’ll bring you something delicious.”
Over the following days, Xiao Hongyao gradually became familiar with the work in the tube-making workshop.
Her coworkers in the group were easy to get along with, and the days passed quickly.
Whenever she had free time, she chatted with the other workers, learning exactly what kinds of fabrics they liked, which patterns they preferred, and what price ranges they could afford.
Before she knew it, a week had passed.
That evening, Xiao Hongyao and her second sister came out of the workshop and saw Liang Tian standing in the drying yard, talking to someone in the distance.
When he saw them, Liang Tian quickly walked over.
He smiled at Xiao Hongyao.
“Third Sister, good news. The new business license is ready. My sister asked you to come and take a look.”
“Really?”
Xiao Hongyao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A whole week had passed without any news, and she had been afraid that something might have gone wrong.
Seeing how happy her younger sister looked, Xiao Hongmin couldn’t help teasing her.
“You haven’t even received any betrothal gifts yet, but you’re already running around helping them and putting so many things into this business. What if they refuse to acknowledge it when they come back?”
Xiao Hongyao had almost forgotten that, in the eyes of the Xiao family, she was actually helping one of Song Kuoyang’s relatives with the business.
She smiled and brushed it off.
“If he refuses to acknowledge it, then we’ll have Sister Zhen stop selling his fabric. He can figure things out himself.”
“Wouldn’t all those good things you’ve given be wasted?”
“Then I’ll buy fabric wholesale myself and sell it.”
“You think this is child’s play? You can just buy fabric wholesale and sell it yourself? If wholesale fabric were that easy, everyone would be rich.”
Xiao Hongmin was only saying it casually. The textile business license was notoriously difficult to obtain, so she didn’t believe Song Kuoyang would refuse to honor the agreement.
Xiao Hongmin went home first, while Xiao Hongyao followed Liang Tian to Sister Zhen’s clothing store.
The business license was in a vertical format, about the size of a 16-mo document. It was placed inside the same glass frame that had previously held the old license, almost as though it were shining with golden light.
Liang Zhen smiled.
“It cost two bottles of liquor and four packs of cigarettes. I’d say everything went smoothly this time.”
“It’s all thanks to you knowing the right people, Sister Zhen. And you’ve had to make so many trips for us.”
“We’re family. No need to be so polite.”
Liang Tian also smiled.
“Family.”
Liang Zhen asked Liang Tian to hang the business license back on the wall. Then she smiled and said,
“Xiaoyao, we’re practically relatives now. But even brothers need to keep clear accounts, right? I think we should put our agreement in writing.”
“Of course.”
Having a written agreement would also protect Xiao Hongyao.
“You said before that I’d get a five-percent commission on the fabric sold through my shop, right?”
Xiao Hongyao nodded. That was what they had originally agreed on.
Liang Zhen’s child came over and tugged at her trouser leg. She picked the child up.
“This is what I’ve been thinking. I don’t want five percent. Three percent is enough.”
Liang Tian looked at his sister incredulously and teased her.
“Did you suddenly become a bodhisattva?”
“Tsk!”
Liang Zhen rolled her eyes at her younger brother.
“Don’t interrupt me. The rent for this shop is eighteen yuan a month. To be honest, I’m raising a child on my own, so the pressure is quite heavy. What I mean is, I’ll only take three percent. No matter how much you make, I’ll only take three percent.
“But, Xiaoyao, you’ll have to discuss one thing with your relative—the owner. If you keep your fabric here for me to sell, you also need to pay me six yuan a month for rent.”
Xiao Hongyao understood immediately.
Liang Zhen didn’t want to take on too much risk. After all, she didn’t know how much fabric they would have to sell or whether the business would be profitable.
Rent plus commission gave her greater security.
After carefully calculating the numbers, Xiao Hongyao felt that Liang Zhen’s request wasn’t unreasonable.
She didn’t agree immediately.
First, she gave Liang Zhen’s child two pieces of lard candy, then asked,
“How will the fabric be displayed?”
“Arrange it however you like.”
Xiao Hongyao looked around the shop.
“I see that most of your clothes are hung on the right side. How about we use the left side for our fabric? We’d also like to use the storage room in the back for our stock.
“I’ll try to get the owner to cover half of the rent each month—nine yuan. Would that work?”
As soon as Liang Zhen heard that, her rental burden was immediately cut in half.
She smiled.
“Of course. We can put two long tables over here on the left and display your fabric on them. Customers will be able to see it as soon as they walk through the door.”
Liang Tian, who had been worried that the two women might fail to reach an agreement, quickly said,
“I’ll figure out how to get the long tables.”
“Thanks, Brother Tian. I’ll discuss it with Song Kuoyang’s relative first. Sister Zhen, I’ll give you an answer later.”
“All right, all right. Thank you, Xiaoyao.”
Xiao Hongyao borrowed Liang Tian’s bicycle and went out for a while before returning.
“Sister Zhen, the owner agreed. We’ll cover nine yuan of the rent every month. The goods will be stored here, you’ll help us sell them, and you’ll receive a three-percent commission.”
Liang Zhen was delighted.
“Wonderful! Then let’s simply put everything in writing and stamp it with our fingerprints.”
Xiao Hongyao added,
“I’ll represent Song Kuoyang’s relative and be your sole contact person from now on. There’s one more thing that needs to be added at the beginning.
“The textile business license was obtained with money from my side, so the operating rights belong to me. Apart from working with me, you can’t cooperate with anyone else. That needs to be clearly written down.”
“Of course. Don’t worry. From now on, this shop is basically a partnership between us. I handle the clothing business, you handle the fabric business, and I help you sell the fabric in exchange for a commission.”
After they had settled all the details regarding their respective interests, they wrote up the agreement and stamped it with their fingerprints.
Xiao Hongyao also arranged with Liang Tian to go to the train station on Wednesday to pick up the goods.
Liang Tian was a truck driver at the factory, so he could drive the truck and help her bring the fabric back.
On her way home, Xiao Hongyao ran into Aunt Liu, who was heading toward the Xiao family home.
When Aunt Liu saw Xiao Hongyao, she grinned happily, revealing a gold tooth.
“Xiaoyao! I was just about to go to your house. I have some good news for you. Your boyfriend, Song Kuoyang, came back this afternoon. He wants to meet you.”