Zhi Xia also could not do anything with them, so she could only try her best to prepare better meals and let Mrs. Zhou deliver them there every day.
The second time Zhi Xia went there, they had already started working. Eldest uncle, Second uncle and two Cousins were shoveling wall plaster, covered in a layer of white plaster, looking particularly hardworking.
Eldest uncle was still laughing and told Zhi Xia, "Don't let Mrs. Zhou prepare meals that are too good, eating meat every day is too wasteful, and they are all good meat. Just make some meals to eat until full, that’s it."
After Zhi Xia left, Eldest uncle instructed his son and nephew, "When you go back, you still have to urge the children to study hard. Just look at Zhi Xia, she had never attended school before, but now she has been admitted to university. What does this show? It shows that as long as one is willing to work hard and make efforts, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. No matter when it is, cultured people always live more comfortably. Don't you want the children below to be like us when they grow up, coming and going in wind and rain, working hard to earn some hard-won money?"
When An Jingzhi advised them to focus on their children's studies in the past, it was when the chaos was severe, and many cultured people lived in cow pens, so they just listened and let it go without taking it to heart.
Now that they were older and their strength was not what it used to be, and seeing the gap between their younger sister’s children and their own children, whether it was their appearance or speech, it was worlds apart.
The others didn't need to do any hard work, they were fair-skinned and looked younger, while his own son was also in his 30s, as dark as charcoal, with hands and feet full of calluses, and his face was also full of vicissitudes.
Second uncle also agreed with him, "Yes, we have to choose between the pen and the hoe, the heavier one is not necessarily the better one."
The main annoying thing was shoveling plaster. Painting was quite fast.
It took a total of 5 days, and when everything was done, they washed themselves clean with well water in the backyard and changed into clean clothes before going home.
Zhou Nan came to tell them to go home for dinner. When leaving, Zhi Xia selected several pieces of cloth for them and their families and put them in separate packages.
After the previous experience of Su Ying giving money, Zhi Xia did not mention giving money this time.
Zhou Nan originally wanted them to stay for a few more days, but both uncles and Cousin were worried about their families. They had been here for several days and were eager to go home.
After returning home, Second Aunt went to fetch water angrily for Second Uncle and second Cousin to wash their faces, while kept complaining, "Yes, after working for a few days just for the meals at their home, you all ate well, but what about the children? At least that Zhi Xia girl still knows what to do, she even knows to give some stuff. I see those pieces of cloth are not bad. It should be enough to make a thick cotton coat for each of you in winter."
After saying that, she quietly lowered her voice and said sadly, "Also make one for Yuan Yuan. It's been a few years since she got married and I haven't seen her buy clothes for herself. She's living worse off than when she was at home."
Second uncle didn't want to talk at first. Anyway, she was just muttering and couldn't do anything.
But when he heard this, he still couldn't help retorting, "What you said... Getting married means growing up. How can she still be as carefree as when she was a girl? She was a child before, so we had to love her and take care of her. Now she is a wife and a mother. She also has her own responsibilities and people she should take care of."
"I just feel sorry for my daughter, thinking that she is living such a difficult life, working hard for a lifetime, and unable to enjoy blessings even when she dies." Second Aunt complained and took over their face towels that had been wiped, washed them clean and hung them up to dry, before going to look over those pieces of cloth.
Soon, Second Aunt's voice came from the room, "Dear, come here quickly."
Second Uncle went in without knowing why, "What's the matter? You are so old yet still yelling, aren't you afraid the children will laugh at you?"
"Look, there is money in the cloth!" Second Aunt was holding four 50 yuan bills and a note in her hand.
This was for both him and second Cousin. Of course it was not all from Zhi Xia alone. There was also Su Ying. She had felt bad about the previous incident all along. After hearing Zhi Xia’s decision, she also put the money in for them, making up for it.
This amount of money might not mean much to them, but for Second Uncle's family, it was quite a large income. Moreover, they had worked hard for several days and wasted a lot of time.
As soon as Second Uncle saw it, he immediately understood what was going on. He turned around and walked out, "Keep the money first. I'll go to Eldest Brother's house to take a look."
As a result, when he arrived at Eldest Uncle’s house, he found 40 yuan and a note stuffed in the cloth there as well.
...
With goods cabinets delivered to the store and after some tidying up, it just waited for the goods to arrive before opening.
At this time, Zhi Xia posted a job advertisement at the door. She needed two girls to work as sales clerks. They would need to learn some skin care knowledge and massage techniques to better serve customers.
The autumn weather was particularly dry. With Su Ying's publicity beforehand, as soon as the firecrackers went off for the store's opening, people poured in.
For now, Jiaoyan didn't have too many product types, but at this time skincare products were mainly moisture retention, so having whitening effects was already very good.
There were also discounts for the first day’s opening. Free hand cream for purchases of 30 yuan, free tinted lip balm for purchases of 80 yuan, and free pearl powder for purchases of 300 yuan.
Of course, there were only a small number of twenty boxes of pearl powder, first come first served. And guaranteed to be genuine goods from overseas.
Pei Xiang also brought her sisters from the cultural work troupe over, "Auntie, I wish your business thrives. I brought my colleagues here specially to support your business, so don't forget to give me a discount, OK?"
"OK, I'll tell them later. For the people you brought, everyone will get a free hand cream, alright?" Seeing the girls in front of her, an idea suddenly came to Zhi Xia's mind.
"Go inside and take a look first. There are quite a lot of people today. Please bear with us if the service is not good enough."
The girls were all quite easy to talk to. In their line of work, wearing and removing makeup are common, so skin care protection was especially important.
In the past, the things they used were all purchased at high prices. In particular, products that could do skin care protection were even more precious.
Earlier, Pei Xiang had brought many trial skin care products for them to use, saying they were made by her relatives. Pei Xiang's family condition was quite good, so the things she used had always been very good. This was known to everyone. Even the things she herself used could naturally gain people's trust.
Sure enough, after just a few days of usage, the results could be clearly seen. On the opening day of Jiaoyan today, they naturally came to check it out.
The prices were not cheap, but compared to the Friendship Store, many items were still acceptable.
After seeing them in, Zhi Xia pulled Pei Xiang aside, "Xiang Xiang, I have a task for you. If you can do it well, the skin care products for your troupe’s future performances will be covered by Auntie. What do you think?”
Pei Xiang was in the municipal performance troupe, so the troupe was not small, and was also quite famous nationwide.
