Chapter 271 - 268: Preparations
The next morning, Li Xiangyang and Brother Yong arrived at Lin Lan’s house.
Wu Shufen pulled him aside, looking at him with affection. "Xiangyang, there’s an old saying: a good son can’t compare to a good daughter-in-law, and a good daughter can’t compare to a good son-in-law. I know you’re a good, capable man, and I’ll accept anything else you buy for us. But the television and sewing machine are just too expensive. We can’t take them."
Li Xiangyang looked at Wu Shufen and said earnestly, "Aunty, I got them with an Uncle Da—they’re smuggled goods, so they didn’t cost much at all. In two more days, when Uncle Lin and the others arrive, they can take it back, set up an antenna, and start watching."
Today was the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the eighth was just two days away. The shop was opening on the sixth. Then, on the eighth, Li Xiangyang and Lin Lan were getting engaged, as were Yang Dingbang and Yang Xiaoman. It was also the day of Brother Yong and Lin Yuezhen’s wedding banquet. Everything was happening at once.
The two couples agreed to hold their engagement celebrations at their own homes first, then head to Brother Yong’s for his wedding banquet.
Since he put it that way, Wu Shufen felt she could no longer refuse and simply nodded. "Just don’t buy such expensive things next time."
"Alright, I won’t," Li Xiangyang readily promised.
Her future son-in-law was capable and well-mannered, but Wu Shufen couldn’t help but worry. ’Is my daughter’s personality too much? Is she good enough for Li Xiangyang?’ In private, she would gently remind Lin Lan to temper her personality, treat Li Xiangyang well, and be a good, filial daughter-in-law to Old Li.
Li Xiangyang finished loading Brother Yong’s things onto a pushcart, then went with Lin Lan to their shop to move merchandise into the department store across the street.
Seeing them hauling their things, Zhou Xiaohong walked over with a smile. "Little Lin, I had someone pick an auspicious date. I’m opening on the morning of the sixth."
Lin Lan laughed. "Oh! I’m opening on the sixth, too."
Zhou Xiaohong took her hand, beaming at her. "You two work so fast! After I got my stock, I was in a mad rush painting the ceiling and installing the wiring and lights. It doesn’t look high-class at all."
"Dongming said your shop already looks way more upscale than mine. He even said that after the New Year, we should renovate our place to match your style."
Lin Lan replied cheerfully, "Don’t worry about it. Just focus on business before the New Year. Afterward, if you want to renovate, you can come get the blueprints from me and copy the design."
Zhou Xiaohong nodded happily. "Thank you! I’ll come and get them from you then."
After agreeing, Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang carried the merchandise into the shop. Just then, Little Xue and her sister arrived.
The three women left the door ajar and began taking inventory and arranging the merchandise. A little after nine o’clock, Yang Zhigang arrived with Uncle He and He Li.
He Li wasn’t tall, but she had fair skin. Despite a couple of pockmarks, her round face and almond-shaped eyes made her look quite cute.
Uncle He stiffly exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Xiangyang and Lin Lan, instructed He Li to work hard, and then left with Yang Zhigang.
Uncle He’s family lived at the end of the alley, near Li Xiangyang’s home. He and Old Li were childhood friends. He had four children, the middle two of whom were already married and had moved out.
His eldest son had some developmental issues and was still unmarried at twenty-six or twenty-seven. He Li couldn’t find a job, so she stayed home, occasionally helping at the pig farm or gluing matchboxes for a little spending money.
Just like she had the day before, Lin Lan showed them how to set the time on the electronic clocks, quartz clocks, and wristwatches as they stocked the shelves.
The three young women listened intently, all of them cherishing this job opportunity.
Li Xiangyang went to the black market in the eastern district to find Shuiqing. He invited Shuiqing and his people to live in the department store’s backyard to help keep an eye on the shop. That way, Shuiqing could rent out his own place to help make ends meet.
Shuiqing hesitated for only a moment before accepting. He looked at Li Xiangyang gratefully. "Brother, I know you’re just finding different ways to help me. All these years, if it weren’t for your support..."
"Hey, enough of that," Li Xiangyang said with a laugh, giving him a light punch on the chest. "We’re brothers, no need for such words. After the Laba Festival, I have something to discuss with you all."
Shuiqing nodded. "Okay, I won’t." ’He’s right, there’s no need to say it out loud,’ he thought. ’It’s enough just to remember it in my heart.’
After leaving the eastern district, Li Xiangyang bought a pack of price tags and dropped them off at the shop for Lin Lan before heading to the slaughterhouse.
After lunch, Shuiqing and two young men arrived on Limin Street, pulling a pushcart. They moved their belongings into the backyard.
Little Xue and Little Mei arrived soon after, pushing a bicycle with their mother, Zhou Yongmei, riding on the back rack.
Zhou Yongmei was very thin and became breathless after speaking just a few sentences. She exchanged a few polite words with Lin Lan, then went to sit down in the backyard.
Yang Dingbang, Dongzi, and their friends arrived at the department store. Seeing the shop’s counters and display cases, Yang Dingbang laughed and said, "How come your counters are wider than the ones in the main department store building?"
Dongzi examined the glass on the display shelves. "Who designed these? They look way better than the wooden shelves at the main department store."
Li Xiangyang pointed proudly at Lin Lan. "My wife thought of it. Impressive, huh?"
Yang Dingbang rubbed his hands together. "Wow, this guy’s got skin thicker than a castle wall."
Blushing, Lin Lan shot him a glare as Yao Xiuyun and Yang Xiaoman grabbed her arm and burst out laughing.
Yao Xiuyun and Yang Xiaoman told Lin Lan that their colleagues at the police station loved the wool sweaters they were wearing and were planning to come by the shop on the sixth to take a look.
Lin Lan smiled at the two women. "Thank you to my two dashing police comrades for spreading the word for me. For the next two days, we’ll be having a grand opening celebration. Everything in the store will be ten percent off..."
Dongzi interjected, "Nice. A grand opening event will definitely bring in more business."
Lin Lan nodded and continued, "We’ll also have a points reward program..."
"A points reward program?" Yao Xiuyun asked, looking at Lin Lan in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
Lin Lan smiled. "It means for every yuan you spend, you’ll earn one point. Once you’ve collected enough points, you can redeem them for specific items in the shop or receive a special discount."
After a moment’s thought, Yao Xiuyun, Yang Xiaoman, and the others understood. Grinning, they pointed at Lin Lan. "Sister Lin, how does your brain even come up with this stuff? This is such a brilliant way to bring in customers!"
Lin Lan casually made up an excuse. "I overheard it in Yangcheng City. They said it’s a good way to keep customers coming back."
Li Xiangyang figured she had probably overheard it while resting at their guesthouse and didn’t pay it any mind. He pulled a stack of tags from a drawer, set them on the counter, and called out to Yang Dingbang’s group with a grin. "Alright, you office-jockey pen-pushers, time to get to work."
Dongzi picked up a tag. "Oh! So you want us to write out the price tags."
Yang Dingbang laughed. "We can write the price tags for you, sure. It’ll be ten cents a tag."
"Deal," Li Xiangyang said, clapping him on the back and handing him a fountain pen. "Now get to work. Come by my place tomorrow and pick up the things I brought back for you."
Lin Lan had Little Xue and Little Mei bring chairs over for the men. She then placed the price list on a round table for them to copy from.
The group of ten or so people worked until seven or eight that evening, finally finishing all the price tags for both the clothing boutique and the department store.
Dongzi then took a calligraphy brush and helped write out some promotional signs on two large sheets of red paper. One announced the "Grand Opening Celebration, 10% Off Everything," and the other detailed the points reward program.
Li Xiangyang had a quick word with Shuiqing, then led Dongzi and Yang Dingbang across the street to the clothing boutique, where they each picked out a wool sweater.
Lin Lan asked Yang Dingbang, "What do you two plan on wearing for your wedding? Take a look around and see if there’s a style you like."
Yang Dingbang patted the uniform he was wearing. "Little Man and I will just wear our uniforms. That’ll be fine."
Li Xiangyang nodded. "Their uniforms will look great."
The group looked around the boutique for a little while longer before saying goodbye to Yang Zhigang and everyone headed home.