No matter how unhappy Li Chunhua was, she had no other choice. This time she did not go back with the fourth brother and his wife, but stayed in Beijing.
In the early days, when there was nothing to do, she helped the family cook.
Wang Shouyi and Wang Shouren had little experience, so they were slower than the fourth brother and his wife.
But we can't blame them entirely. One sells food and the other sells services, so they are naturally different.
Wang Shouyi and Wang Shouren searched for several days before they finally found a suitable storefront. Their choice of storefront was not as simple as that of Lao Si and his wife. First, you have to find a place to park.
Although there are not many illegal parking cases these days, the public security is not good. If you park your car on the roadside, the glass of your car may be broken by someone the next day.
So the shops they choose must have courtyards, which are hard to find.
The two rode the bicycles borrowed from Xiaomin and Zhengjun and wandered around the streets of Beijing for many days before finally finding a suitable one.
This store is no longer in the city center, it's a bit remote, but it's still much better than the suburbs.
There are several factories around here with people coming and going. If I want to do business in the future, this flow of people will not be a big deal.
When Qian Shulan heard that they had found a suitable shop, she went with them to see it.
This shop is very big. It is more than enough to open a furniture store, let alone a moving company.
"How much does this cost?" Wang Shouyi was the one who found the shop. It was also the first time for Wang Shouren to come here. When he saw such a wide storefront, the first thing he thought of was the money.
For this business, Wang Shouyi contributed 20,000 yuan, and Wang Shouren, who owned a big restaurant, contributed 40,000 yuan. But Wang Shouyi borrowed 10,000 yuan from Wang Shouren, so the two split the profit 50-50.
Wang Shouyi was a little nervous and gestured with his fingers, which frightened Wang Shouren so much that his face turned pale and he kept shaking his head, "This is too expensive, it actually costs 30,000. We both got our money from the wind, but it costs so much."
As expected, she disagreed! Wang Shouyi was a little helpless, and looked at Qian Shulan, hoping that she could say a few good words for him.
Qian Shulan did not speak this time. She glared at him unhappily and said, "How old am I? Can I still help you settle lawsuits for the rest of your life? Your eldest brother is just a little frugal, but he is not unresponsive. You can talk to him yourself!"
After being scolded by his mother, Wang Shouyi had to try to reason with Wang Shouren, "Although this house is quite expensive, it has a yard. And the door is quite wide. Brother, this family is in a hurry to move abroad, and the price they asked is not high. We can be considered to have found a bargain."
Wang Shouren disagreed, "The house is worth the price. But third brother, you have to think about it. We run a moving company. Do we need such a big storefront? We can't even afford half of it. It's such a waste to build such a big one."
Wang Shouyi glanced at the storefront and thought it was a bit too big. They were a moving company and didn't have much space to put. It was not good to have too much space. He glanced at the side for a few times and suddenly his eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh and said, "Brother, we are stupid. We can add a wall in the middle to divide it into two and rent out the extra space. We can also collect some rent. How great. Don't you think so?"
Wang Shouren touched his chin and gave him a thumbs up, "Okay! Let's do it!"
But then he started to worry, "All the money has been used to buy a house, and we only have 30,000 yuan left. Is it enough to buy a car and promote it?"
He heard from Lao Wu that he spent several thousand yuan every month just on advertising in newspapers, which was very expensive.
Wang Shouyi scratched his head, a little vague, "Let's do this for now. When the money is not enough, we can think of another way."
After he said this, Wang Shouren had nothing to say.
In the afternoon, the three of them met with the landlord to discuss the price. They and the staff of the Housing Authority had already arrived at the agreed location.
Wang Shouren considered his mother's age and decided to sit down at the restaurant next door. He spent some money to buy a few bottles of soda.
Qian Shulan didn't like this kind of carbonated drink. She looked out the window and saw three people walking from the opposite street. The older gentleman had gray hair and was wearing a patched shirt, but his face and hands were very clean. His two children were wearing half-worn clothes, which were much neater than his. But looking at the two people's careful and thoughtful actions and concerned eyes, it didn't seem fake at all. Why did the old man wear such tattered clothes
The old man wearing glasses walked into the store with the help of his two children. His movements were a little shaky.
The staff member put down the soda in his hand, invited the three people to sit over, and introduced them to both parties.
Qian Shulan glanced at the three people's clothes and frowned, "You are so old, isn't it good for you to stay here and retire?"
The old man adjusted his glasses and glanced at Qian Shulan. He found that there was only confusion in her eyes, but no special meaning. He breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, "No, there is nothing here worth staying for. There is only coldness and biting. I am old now, and I just want to spend the last few years in peace."
Qian Shulan was silent. This was another sad event in the past.
She looked a little depressed. At this moment, a loud speaker on the street suddenly sounded, "The dearest instructions..."
Everyone looked out the window.
"Ah!" A shrill scream made everyone turn their heads. The old gentleman who was sitting on the stool and looked very elegant was now kneeling on the ground, holding his head with both hands, slightly lowered, as if he was being criticized. What was even more incredible was that he kept saying, "I am guilty! I was wrong! I shouldn't have separated Chairman M." Then he started to recite quotations in a jumbled voice. The voice was ridiculously loud.
Qian Shulan saw that the old man was in a bad mental state. She looked up at his two children, who were already crying. They held the old man's arms and pulled him up, patting his back and comforting him, "Dad, the Cultural Revolution is over. You are no longer a monster. You are safe now."
Unfortunately, the old man didn't seem to hear what he said and continued talking. Not only did his speaking speed not slow down, but it actually quickened.
Just when the two were at a loss, Qian Shulan suddenly stood up from her chair and said, "Salute!"
The old man who was reciting the quotations immediately jumped up from the ground, his agility not befitting an octogenarian. He hunched his back and saluted Qian Shulan at a 90-degree angle.
Qian Shulan quickly helped the man up and met his eyes. Her eyes were slightly moist. "Brother, our hard times are over." She leaned close to his ear and said, "The man is dead. The Digital Gang was also shot. You are saved."
I don't know if he is old enough to hear this voice, but he seemed to have heard it. His eyes lit up and he stiffly moved his neck to look at his two children. "Is it over?"
"It's over!" The two covered their mouths, nodded affirmatively, and repeated again, "It's over."
Because of this incident, Qian Shulan and the other two had no mood to bargain with them and settled on 30,000 yuan.
"Thank you." The couple bowed to Qian Shulan. Their house is big and not easy to sell. For several months, they had not sold it. Originally, they thought of splitting the house and selling it. But this requires reporting to the Housing Authority and paying money, after all, two property certificates are required. It costs a lot. All the money given by the old man has been used for his medical treatment. The remaining money has to be saved for living in the United States. I heard that things there are very expensive. But who would have thought that someone would take a fancy to it and didn't even bargain. These three people are obviously smart people. They didn't bargain for a penny, just because they sympathize with the old man. Neither of them is the kind of person who is ungrateful.
"Once he's abroad, maybe the old man can return to normal." It's impossible for the loudspeakers abroad to speak Chinese, so it naturally won't irritate him.
The staff member introduced the two people, and the old man's son helped him to go to the toilet at the back of the hotel.
The staff member suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "What happened to your old man? What do you mean by separating Chairman M? What does it mean?"
Qian Shulan and the other two also pricked up their ears to listen. They were quite curious, but they didn't want to ask in front of the old man for fear of upsetting him.
The old man's daughter's eyes instantly turned red. She had a family and children, so she naturally couldn't go with him. This departure would probably be the last time she would see her father. When she thought about how her father would be like this from now on, she was so angry that her teeth itched. It was all those people's fault. If it weren't for those people, her father wouldn't be like this now. She wished that everyone in the world knew about the grievances her father had suffered, and she spilled the beans like a bamboo tube pouring out, "My father is a professor at the university, teaching Chinese. Once when he was writing a report to the higher-ups, there was a line at the end of the line where he couldn't write 'Chairman M', so my father split it into two lines, writing 'Chairman M' in the front and 'Chairman' in the next line. He was then reported. The Red Guards said that my father was a capitalist-roader who was trying to 'split' Chairman M, and announced in public that 'Chairman M' were the three most sacred words, and that they were not allowed to be written in separate lines!"
With a "bang", a young man about fifteen or sixteen years old stood up from the table opposite. He kicked over the stool and immediately cursed, "What a bunch of bullshit! For such a ridiculous reason, it's so funny! Killing those evil guys a thousand times is not enough to vent my anger!"
The restaurant owner was so scared that he hurried over from behind the counter. He walked halfway and seemed to think of something. He turned back to the door, poked his head out and looked around. Then he closed the door, walked up to the young man, and slapped him on the back of the head. "What are you talking about, little bastard? Go read your book!"
The young man puffed up his cheeks in dissatisfaction and glared at him.
The restaurant owner slapped him again, "What are you looking at? If you keep looking at me, I'm your father. If you keep talking nonsense, are you going to kill my family?"
The young man pursed his lips and said, "People are dead, what are you afraid of?"
Seeing that he was unmoved, the restaurant owner said, "What do you know? You killed so many people just two years ago. How can you be so forgetful? Do you really want them to arrest you too?"
The young man shuddered and stopped talking.
Seeing him sitting on the stool and reading a book, the restaurant owner turned around. He walked to Qian Shulan's table with a stern face, knocked on the table, and said in a somewhat aggressive tone, "Ladies and gentlemen, you only ordered a few bottles of soda and have finished drinking them. Isn't it time to leave?"
The restaurant owner's attitude just now was quite nice, but he might have been afraid that they would say something unpleasant again, so he chased them away.
The staff member was good-tempered. He stood up and smiled at him, "Okay, let's go!"
Several people stood up slowly, and the man over there walked in from behind, supporting the old man.
Several people quickened their pace and walked out of the restaurant.