novelraw Chapter 481 - 479: Foolish Mistake
Chapter 481 - 479: Foolish Mistake
"Auntie, Rongrong, are you leaving? Aren’t you staying for dinner?" Lin Wan smiled and quietly listened to the mother and daughter talk. She only asserted her presence when they reached the door."Oh... Xiao Wan, you go back to take care of the children. We’re not staying; your uncle is waiting for me to make dinner."
"Alright then, the wind is strong on the road, take it slow."
Proper courtesy should still be thoroughly observed.
After seeing off the two nuisances, Lin Wan let out a big sigh of relief.
Not long ago she thought this aunt had changed for the better, but it turns out she’s still the same.
It’s just that Zhang Huilan is more tactful than Liang Weixiang, and cares about appearances.
Liang Weixiang is much more of a piece of work than her.
"Didn’t suffer a loss, did you?" Seeing them leave, Shi Lan, holding the child, came to the doorway and asked, hesitant to go out due to the wind.
"No, I made two months’ living expenses for me and Little Star."
"Han Yi’s relatives?" Shi Lan hadn’t met them but could guess from the conversation.
"Yes, Ai Yi’s aunt, she usually likes to gain some advantages, other than that, nothing much."
"Oh..."
Everyone’s got that one tricky relative. Shi Lan didn’t find it surprising.
...
By the end of October, the North had its first snowfall. The weather suddenly turned cold. Lin Wan had just told Han Yi that their daughter hadn’t gotten sick yet. In a few days, she caught a cold herself and then passed it on to Little Star. Adults catching colds isn’t serious, but it’s troublesome when an infant gets sick. At this time, there weren’t specialized children’s medicines; almost all were bitter meds.
These past two days, the three adults in the household had been kept busy. Every dose of medicine for the baby could keep Lin Wan and Liang Hongmei occupied for half an hour.
Fortunately, after three to four days, the baby improved. The mother and daughter stayed home to nurse the child back to health during these days.
With the cold weather, Liang Hongmei didn’t let Shi Lan go to the shop; there were only a few leftovers, and she could help look after that.
If there’s nothing else, Shi Lan was encouraged to chat with Lin Wan more.
When godmother received the clothes she sent, she called them to invite the whole family to the Capital City for the New Year. Lin Wan didn’t agree; the child was too young, and traveling was too troublesome. If the child got sick again on the road, it would be troublesome.
As soon as it got cold, these remaining clothes weren’t selling well; now they were even more unsold. The return rate was especially high. In just a few days, Lin Wan and Yin Peibai pulled back hundreds of pieces from several shops.
They refunded quite a bit of money.
Fortunately, Wu Liu, as soon as a batch of goods was labeled, Wu Liu took them to the South, selling at a higher price than before, remarkably quickly.
He didn’t hesitate to take all of her remaining stock.
"Lin sister, those jars of sauce you gave me last time were really good. I gave some to a friend who loved it. Do you have more?" Mid-November, Wu Liu came to take the remaining few hundred pieces of stock.
"Yes, shall I get you a few jars?"
Wu Liu furrowed his brow: "Is it not much?"
Lin Wan was stunned, then delighted, "Brother Wu wants to sell them?"
Wu Liu nodded, and Lin Wan laughed heartily before quickly taking him to Shi Lan’s house.
"This is made by a friend of mine. We don’t have much left; only about ten jars, usually retailed by ourselves."
"Xiao Lan, Brother Wu is interested in your sauce."
"Really?" Shi Lan was thrilled; she’d understood a bit during her time with Lin Wan and had met this Brother Wu once.
"Sister, how many bottled do you have now?" Wu Liu didn’t waste time; with Lin Wan’s introduction, he trusted it.
"Over two hundred bottles."
"I’ll take all two hundred bottles. What price can you give me, sister?"
Shi Lan chuckled, signaled with her fingers, and said, "Since Brother Wu is Xiao Wan’s friend, we can consider ourselves as friends too. I normally retail a bottle for fifty cents, but I’ll give Brother Wu for twenty cents. Is that okay with you?"
Wu Liu considered the market he was going to, then nodded, "Alright, twenty cents it is."
"Great!"
Because of Lin Wan, Shi Lan made connections with Wu Liu, the big boss. She wouldn’t need to retail individually in the future and could bring in decent earnings monthly.
She understood the principle of small profits but quick turnover, having dealt with the business of mountain goods at home.
With the whole Wu Liu incident, Lin Wan suddenly thought of Wei Jian Country. His family seems to have opened a workshop, and quite a few people eat there.
In winter, there aren’t many vegetables, and soybean paste can certainly serve as a dish.
I’ll ask about it when I help Shi Lan another day.
Shi Lan is confident that the two hundred bottles Wu Liu took out will definitely sell out soon. She needs to continue making two more vats.
The next day, Shi Lan followed Liang Hongmei to the shop and met Huang Dashan.
She got a few bags of mushrooms from him.
Taking advantage of the melting snow, Lin Wan took a picture of Little Star in the yard. She also asked Shi Lan to take one of her, planning to send it to Han Yi.
Shi Lan also used Lin Wan’s camera to take a picture of herself, preparing to send it to Ning Jiang to update her on her business.
Little Star can now turn over on her own, and Lin Wan doesn’t dare to put her in the cradle anymore; she lays her on the kang. The edge of the kang is surrounded by quilts, fearing she might fall. "Mom, it’s cold, you shouldn’t run back and forth to the shop; I’ll go."
"I’m not tired riding the bike. If it’s too cold, I’ll take the tram. You just take good care of the child at home; Mom isn’t tired."
"You just stay home. The shop is close to the school. I can go straight to work in the afternoon."
Liang Hongmei suddenly thought of Du Guangjun and didn’t oppose her daughter going, "Alright, you go ahead."
...
Lately, Mei Langchi has been summoned by the political commissar several times. The review is over, mediated twice, yet both are firmly determined.
Both agree to the divorce, and because of Tao Jia’s cooperation, Mei Langchi feels a bit guilty.
He’s trying to meet Tao Jia’s requests as much as possible. They’ve agreed on giving her the apartment they owned in the Capital City and all the family’s savings.
In essence, he practically left empty-handed.
But getting the divorce was a relief for him. Now, the process is nearly complete. Just waiting for the ministry’s approval.
Originally, they kept it tight-lipped, but unexpectedly, Mom somehow found out and called to question him.
"Why are you two divorcing when everything was fine? Xiao Jia is such a good daughter-in-law, you’ll be the death of me! I’m telling you, Xiao Chi, Mom doesn’t agree to your divorce."
"Mom, if you want what’s best for your son, then don’t meddle in our affairs."
"I’m looking out for you by doing this, Xiao Chi. Tell Mom, who brought it up, you or Xiao Jia?"
"It’s mutual, not about who went first—both of us agree."
"Don’t lie to me, a while ago, Xiao Jia called to say she’d come back for New Year. Said she plans to step back next year to have a grandson for me too. How did it come to this suddenly, wanting a divorce? Was it you who suggested it?"
"Mom, regardless of who brought it up, the divorce is certain. If your son doesn’t divorce, he definitely can’t stay in the army."
"What happened, Xiao Chi? Did you do something wrong? ...and Xiao Jia found out?" Mei Langchi’s mom assumed her son made a political mistake, and Xiao Jia wants to report him.
"Mom, I said don’t ask, so don’t. Please don’t let Dad and Grandpa know. I have other matters, we’ll leave it here."
"Sigh... Xiao Chi... don’t be foolish and follow your father’s ways. Spare Mom a little worry." Xie Lingzhi hung up the phone. Although she had doubts, she no longer opposed Mei Langchi’s divorce as much.
In her heart, she suspected her son must have made a marital mistake, otherwise he wouldn’t be so determined about the divorce....
Lin Wan arranged a Sunday for Yin Peibai and Su Ling to come over.
This time, all the goods sold out. A total of 13,200 yuan was invested, with labor costs amounting to over 8,000. They earned 45,800. After deducting costs, they made a total profit of 32,600 yuan.
Lin Wan invested 5,000 yuan in total, Su Ling initially 1,000, and Yin Peibai 500. Later, both added another 2,000 yuan each.
Lin Wan held 50%, Su Ling 25%, and Yin Peibai 25%.
Lin Wan received over 10,000, while Su Ling and Yin Peibai each received over 8,000. During these times, since Yin Peibai had no children, most of the running around was done by her. After discussing with Su Ling, they decided to each take out 200 yuan for Yin Peibai.
"Over 8,000 yuan in just over two months, I’ve become a ten-thousand-yuan household too. I don’t need the 200 from you," Yin Peibai was reluctant to accept.
The large bills were stacked together, filling a big bag. Yin Peibai touched her fabric purse, so excited she was nearly trembling.
"Still short of 1,000 from being a ten-thousand-yuan household, what’s gotten into you? You’re holding the money. It’s 400; enough for a year’s living expenses," Su Ling laughed, covering her mouth as she slipped the money into Yin Peibai’s purse.
"What do I do with so much money? I’m afraid to go out," Su Ling, too, was handling such a large sum for the first time. Despite appearing nonchalant, she felt just as excited as Yin Peibai inside.
Lin Wan covered her mouth, laughing, "Let your men come get you. The fabric bags hide it well; nobody can tell what’s inside."
Yin Peibai picked up the bag and looked around; no matter how she looked, it seemed obvious there was money inside.