Before the New Year, the university was on holiday, so Qin Shu returned to Shanghai to celebrate the New Year. Wei Yin prepared a lot of Beijing specialties for her to take back to her family.
This year, the Wei family still had a lively New Year. Wei Nian even asked his old lady to pay for a photographer to take a few family photos. However, the old lady refused, saying that taking photos was too expensive and that this was not the family tradition of the Wei family.
Old Master Wei was very happy. He gave Wei Nian money and went to the photo studio to make an appointment with a photographer. Everyone took a family photo together in a lively manner.
The family photo was taken on the second day of the Chinese New Year. The married daughter returned to her parents' home on the second day of the Chinese New Year. There were the family of Wei Jin and Zhao's husband. Zhao's husband brought good cigarettes, good wine and good meat, and brought his wife and children to pay New Year's greetings to his parents-in-law. Grandpa Wei and Mrs. Wei were very happy, especially Mrs. Wei, who smiled like a flower and said, "Come if you want to. Why bring so many things? Save the money. Brother Feng and Brother Yu are all grown up. You will have plenty of money in the future."
As soon as Wei Jin returned to her parents' home, she sat on the kang. Li brought her tea and Chen Xuan handed her a plate of dried fruits. Wei Jin took a sip of the tea and put it on the kang table beside her. She peeled fried peanuts and followed her husband's words, "I said so too, but your son-in-law just wouldn't agree. This meat was bought before the New Year. He personally watched the pig being slaughtered. It has been frozen outside and is still fresh now. Leave it here and eat it. The cigarettes and wine were also bought early in the morning. Knowing that my father doesn't smoke foreign cigarettes, he asked someone to find good tobacco in his hometown. Dad, you try it later. And the wine is Fenjiu from Shanxi. Open it at lunch and try them all."
Brother-in-law Zhao just smiled and listened to his wife.
Wei Jin sat on the kang, and the younger generations came over to wish their eldest aunt and uncle a happy new year. Wei Jin generously gave each of them fifty cents as a lucky money. Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu also wished their grandparents, uncle, aunt and second aunt a happy new year. The aunt and second aunt each gave fifty cents as a lucky money, and the grandmother gave each of them one dollar. Wei Jin immediately wanted to take the lucky money from his sons, saying that it was saved for them. Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu grew up and were unwilling to give all the money to their mother, saying, "At least leave some for us, one dollar for each of us."
Wei Jin refused and coaxed her son, "Mom will keep this money to help you two find wives in the future."
Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu, "Mom, we're not going to get married!"
Wei Jin made his son laugh in anger, and brother-in-law Zhao also joined his son, "Okay, take them all to play with Jie, Ming, and Yun. I won't collect them this year, you are all grown-up boys now." When the two sons heard what their father said, they cheered happily and ran outside to play. Wei Jin glared at her husband, "Don't let children spend money recklessly."
Brother-in-law Zhao smiled good-naturedly, "It's not the New Year."
Wei Jin snorted coldly, and the little girl who was running and playing on the kang in tiger-toe shoes took out the small red envelope that her aunt had just given her from her pocket, gave it to her aunt, and said crisply, "Aunt, here you go!" Wei Jin was moved, and stuffed the red envelope back into the little girl's pocket, hugged the little girl and kissed her twice, saying, "Oh my, why don't I have a little girl? Oh my, my aunt's little girl is so thoughtful!"
The little girl was best friends with her eldest aunt, and she giggled when she was kissed by her eldest aunt. The little girl also pouted her lips to kiss her eldest aunt, and the two of them were as close as mother and daughter.
Wei Jin also said to Chen Xuan, "You are a blessed person. Look at our little girl, she is so considerate."
When the little girl saw that her brothers and sisters had gone out to play, she refused to sit in her eldest aunt's arms and insisted on going out to play with her brothers and sisters. Chen Xuan felt that the weather was too cold, but the little girl would not listen. Wei Jin put a little cotton monkey on her and took her out to Zhao Feng, asking him to look after her sister. Later, Wei Jin said to Chen Xuan, "Our little girl is sociable and loves to play with the older ones. Don't worry, Afeng is older now and he will take care of her."
When the photographer came in the morning, Wei Jin held the little girl and sat next to the old lady, Wei Yin and Yun Jieer sat next to the old man, the other children squatted in front, and the son, daughter-in-law and brother-in-law Zhao stood in the back. This densely packed photo was asked by the photo studio to print the largest one, put it in a big frame and hang it in her room. Wei Jin suggested, "Mom, print a few more, and give me one when the time comes."
Old Mrs. Wei generously agreed to her eldest daughter's request, "I'll wash a small one for you."
Wei Nian said, "Mom, why don't you take a photo with my dad? It's been a while since you two took a photo together, right?"
Old Mrs. Wei was very interested in this suggestion. When she heard that they were going to take a photo of her and her husband, she sat back down after having just stood up from her chair. She said to her sons, "It's not just a few years ago, but since we took a photo when we got married, we haven't had a photo of the two of us for decades."
Old Master Wei was old-fashioned and was embarrassed, "We are an old couple, what's so good about taking pictures? You young people should take the pictures."
Wei Shi and Wei Nian persuaded the old man to sit down and let the photographer take a photo of the old couple. After that, the children had fun. Who doesn't want to take photos? The children took a photo together, and Wei Nian, Wei Shi, Wei Jin and Wei Yin took another photo. After that, they took a photo with their wives and husbands, and each family took a photo. When it was time for everyone to take individual photos, Mrs. Wei couldn't bear it anymore and kept complaining, "Life is over! That's enough! How much does it cost!"
Wei Nian coaxed the old lady, "Mom, it was my dad who took the money, not you."
"Your father's money is my money!" The old lady said firmly, and told the photographer to take so many photos, and print the big family photo in large size, and print the others in normal size. The photographer was amused by the family, and Wei Nian personally sent him out. During the New Year, he stuffed a red envelope into the photographer's pocket and asked him to print five copies each, and then he would go to the photo studio to pick them up. Seeing the red envelope, the photographer happily said goodbye and left.
The lunch was even more lively. Although there were no delicacies from land and sea, there were chicken, fish, and pork elbows. In the past two years, the business was prosperous, and the two daughters-in-law were working outside to earn money, so Mrs. Wei was no longer reluctant to give her daughters-in-law meat. Anyway, they all ate at the same table, so everyone from the children and grandchildren to the daughters-in-law ate happily. Even the little girl was fed two mouthfuls of stewed pork elbow skin. Seeing her daughter's delicious little mouthful of oily mouthfuls while eating, Chen Xuan smiled and said, "She is like her elder sister-in-law when it comes to eating. She especially likes to eat meat."
Wei Jin wiped the little girl's mouth and said proudly, "I am lucky. I have to eat more meat so that I can grow taller in the future. Isn't that right, little girl?"
"Yes!" Whether you can understand or not, the little girl is very good at responding! She was born with a loud voice, and her voice is clear and crisp, and very loud. Fortunately, this child knows when she is hungry or full when eating. No matter how good the food is, once she is full, she will not eat it no matter who feeds her. Wei Jin admired this point of his niece and thought that his niece was born with a promising future. Unlike some children, if they find something that doesn't suit them, they will stop eating after a few chopsticks, but if they find something that suits them, they will eat it endlessly and easily get full.
The women ate and took care of the children, while the men drank and talked. The meal lasted until after two o'clock. Old Master Wei had some wine, so he asked his two sons to accompany their son-in-law, and he helped the old lady back to the room to lie down on the kang.
Wei Jin went to Wei Yin's room to talk as a sister-in-law. Wei Jin was really proud this year, mainly because her two sons had earned face this year. Wei Jin said, "If I say this in front of your brother-in-law, he will not be very happy, thinking that I look down on his nephew. Let's compare them. Our Feng and Yu brothers ranked third and fifth this year, and each of them received a big award certificate from the school. In fact, he is also happy in his heart. In the past, every time your brother-in-law went to the school for a meeting before the annual vacation, he was not willing to go. This time when he went, oh my, he was so embarrassed, and he even sipped half a catty of wine and almost got drunk."
Wei Yin smiled, "This year, Brother Feng and Brother Yu did very well in the exam. I was happy to hear that. Regardless of whether it's a face-saving thing or not, in this world, children have to study hard to have a future."
"That's right, your eldest brother-in-law said so too. It was that biased old woman who silenced Feng and Yu'er with their grades this year." Wei Jin lowered her voice for the last sentence, feeling quite relieved. She was as happy as a flower and smiled at Chen Xuan, "I have to thank my second brother and sister-in-law for this. If it weren't for you helping to hire a tutor, they wouldn't have improved so quickly." Before Chen Xuan could say a humble word, Wei Jin continued, "But I'm not too worried about the two children's schoolwork. People say that nephews are like their uncles, and I'm not exaggerating. There are no stupid people in our Wei family. When Ah Shi and Ah Nian were in school, they were also among the best in the class. Later, our dad asked them to go to the shop to study and do business. The teacher even came to our house and persuaded our dad to let them continue studying to take the exam for the scholar. Our family is a business family, and there was no such thing as a scholar at that time. Ah Feng and Ah Yu, look at their eldest uncle and second uncle, they can't be stupid!"
Wei Jin felt proud because his two sons did well in the exam.
Chen Xuan was also very happy that Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu's grades had improved, but Wei Jin's temper, hey, anyway, Chen Xuan was used to it. Chen Xuan was honest, and although Wei Jin was very competitive, if the family cared about so much, they would not be able to live. Chen Xuan had to go to the store every day, and the little girl still had to be taken care of by Mrs. Wei and Wei Jin. The eldest sister-in-law was so stingy, but she could take the little girl out to drink almond tea, eat wontons, and buy small flowers from time to time. Although the little girl caught the eldest sister-in-law's eye, wasn't that how relatives interacted with each other.
The news about the current situation is not good. Although Mr. Rong said that there has been no problem in recent years, Wei Nian said that the treasures in the Forbidden City have been transported out of Beijing by truckloads. I don't know where they are being transported to, but this is not a good sign either.
Because of this incident, Wei Nianyuan was thinking about adding more machines, and hesitant for a while.
Now, Wei Nian is willing to discuss things with Chen Xuan. Chen Xuan thought for a while and said, "Brother Nian, I think our business in Tianjin and Shanghai has recovered. If you want to add another machine, just add one. That machine is not expensive. If you do a good job, you can make your investment back this year. It will take a few years for the Japanese to come." The last sentence was the argument in Chen Xuan's dream.
"Okay, then let's add another one!"
Wei Nian installed the machine, and Chen Xuan continued to do business, study, and raise a daughter. After the Northeast Three Provinces Incident the year before last and the Shanghai War at the beginning of last year, this year's business was extremely hot. Especially Miss Bai's brilliant idea, she paid a famous novelist to insert brand advertisements in her novel last year, and then, it was good luck for "Si Qing", the novel became a big hit. Then it was made into a movie, and the play was also performed in theaters all over the country. Miss Bai not only sponsored the filming of the movie, but also sponsored several drama troupes. Even in Beijing, due to the series of promotions of the novel and the movie, plus the series of advertisements in newspapers proposed by Wei Nian, "Si Qing" has reached a new sales peak.
At present, domestic advertisements generally tend to be promoted in pictorials and newspapers, and there are very few that are directly embedded in novels and movies. This kind of thing has never been done before. As the first person to try it out, Miss Bai’s case can be written into the classic case of modern marketing textbooks.
There are also agents from Qingdao, Hankou, Jiujiang and other places who are quite powerful who come to Beijing and want to become provincial agents of the "Siqing" brand. The whole brand has benefited from it. Wei Nian discussed with Mr. Rong on the phone that they plan to take advantage of this favorable situation and make the Siqing brand a national brand. The machines to be added are not just one at the beginning, but one of each type. Wei Nian now takes Chen Xuan to entertain guests at the Liuguo Hotel every day. When agents come, they go to the Liuguo Hotel for dinner first. This is the first stop. The second stop is to visit the R&D center in the store. Wei Nian's idea of separating R&D from the factory can now be seen as Wei Nian's foresight. When those agents take a look, the masters in the R&D center, no, they are called researchers in a Western style, are all like doctors in a hospital, wearing white coats and are well-mannered scientific researchers. Especially for Wu and Zhao, the two managers who are now in charge of the R&D center, because there are agents coming, Wei Nian fitted them with a pair of flat round-frame gold-rimmed glasses at the optical shop, saying that it makes them look more refined. In short, it is a completely different level from those old-style workshop-type factories where masters, apprentices and workers are gathered together.
When Wei Nian introduced the R&D center to others, he always said that all of them were top students from famous universities, and that they had long-term cooperation with Peking University, etc. Wei Nian's eloquence had already surpassed the primary level of eloquence, and now he was showing his strength in a low-key and humble manner.
As for the specific sales plans of the agents, Wei Nian asked the agents to have a face-to-face meeting with Chen Xuan and Wei Yin. Although Chen Xuan and Wei Yin are women, they have made their way up in the cosmetics sales field. Now the two of them will go to the store every day to monitor. Even the packaging of Siqing's upgraded models is designed by Wei Yin.
Faced with such momentum of "Siqing", Miss Shao, who came to Beijing again, was really regretful.
Even with the financial resources of the Shao family, Miss Shao couldn't help but say to her father, "I really made a mistake."
If she had handed "Fenfang" over to Chen Xuan and Wei Yin, the sister-in-law, to run, then it would be her "Fenfang" that would be popular all over the country now, instead of the current "Siqing".
The author has something to say: ps: The second update is here, good night everyone!!