The manager, seeing Mrs. Gong and Mrs. Tang outside the shop constantly on the phone, became even more anxious.
These two ladies were her hard-won loyal customers. If those foreigners had to be treated with such caution, her shop would be ruined.
She anxiously stared at the shop next door. When she saw them pull out a folding trolley, her heart ached. The trolley was piled so high; she wondered how much those foreigners had bought.
Seeing Tian Jing and her group emerge, Mrs. Tang and Mrs. Gong rushed towards Tian Jing, "Captain Tian, we..."
"You have the wrong person," Tian Jing interrupted them with a wave of her hand. "We are just a bunch of bumpkins, please don't block the way."
Old Mrs. Tu, Mrs. Tang's mother, thinking her age would earn her some respect from Tian Jing, spoke with dignity, "I am Shen Xiaohui's mother-in-law, Xiaohui she..."
Tian Jing still ignored her. "Who your mother-in-law is is none of my business, please don't block the road."
Han Lushiyi waved his hand, and Old Mrs. Tu, her daughter Mrs. Tang, and Mrs. Gong were pushed aside by a force. Watching the group leave in a grand procession, Old Mrs. Tu stomped her foot. "Go back quickly, quickly tell your father to contact the in-laws!"
Seeing Mrs. Tang hastily leave with her mother, and Mrs. Gong also leave in a hurry, the manager quickly instructed her staff, "Quick, quick, tally up all the goods!"
The shop assistant was confused. "Do what?"
The manager really wanted to slap the assistant. How had she thought hiring a somewhat dim-witted employee would be more reassuring?
"Do what? Run away."
The assistant still didn't understand. "Why run away? And why take the clothes when running away?"
The manager exploded with rage and yelled at the assistant, "You go and check the inventory right now!"
"Oh."
The assistant went to check the inventory, while the manager paced back and forth outside the shop.
Finally seeing the manager and staff from the shop next door return, she quickly grabbed the manager.
"I'll give you all the goods in the shop at half the purchase price, and you give me cash."
The manager refused, "Don't even mention half price, I don't want it for three percent or even one percent. You should just use it for the mall's rent."
The manager clung to the manager, "The rent won't be enough for all this, will it? Please, could you pick out some of it?"
Should she let her pick? The manager was tempted.
Seeing the manager hesitate, the clever shop assistant pulled her manager towards the shop. "Whoever takes her goods will be unlucky."
The manager immediately realized that the entire incident stemmed from the group of outsiders being discriminated against by the Tang and Gong families.
If she dared to take the goods, not only would she offend those outsiders, but she would also be targeted by the Tang and Gong families.
She forcefully shook off the manager's hand and followed the clever shop assistant back into the shop.
Once inside the shop, the clever shop assistant proposed to resign.
The manager was stunned. "Xiaojie, you?"
"I'm sorry," Xiaojie bowed slightly to the manager. "That beautiful lady just now extended an olive branch to me."
"I have a feeling this is the greatest opportunity in my life. If I miss it, perhaps I'll live a life of obscurity from now on."
"I believe after this, the shop's business will only get better and better. In the future, I will also bring colleagues and friends to patronize it."
The manager felt a sense of loss, but she couldn't stop her subordinate from pursuing a better future.
"Alright, I'll settle your wages. It's thanks to your quick thinking this time. I wish you a bright future."
"Thank you, manager," Xiaojie thanked her and straightened up. She was surrounded by other shop assistants.
"What does that beautiful lady do? Do you know if she's a good person or a bad person? You need to be careful."
Xiaojie thanked her colleagues for their concern one by one, but she couldn't reveal the name of Jingyuan Company.
She knew that the general gap between ordinary people was not a big deal. If a large gap suddenly appeared, the manager and colleagues would not be happy.
...
Back on the 36th floor, Li Min, Ouyang Meihua, Mai Mai, and Xiao Mai began to sort out their family's luggage.
The four of them tacitly folded and rolled up the clothes they had brought from home, preparing to stuff them into the car trunk first.
They would keep the newly bought clothes to wear for the next few days. If they could be looked down upon when shopping in Kyoto, they definitely couldn't wear the clothes they brought when attending a wedding.
Of course, the cloth shoes wouldn't be changed; cloth shoes were considered a hot commodity in some people's eyes.
However, what about the easily wrinkled formal wear?
The four women went to find Tian Jing.
Tian Jing called Shen Jianrong and asked her to help order a standing garment steamer for the villa.
With a standing garment steamer, they could wear neat and tidy clothes every day.
Captain Tian always had a solution. The four women went back to sort out their formal wear.
They were not afraid of wrinkles, so they were easy to pack.
Li's mother shook her head and smiled. Experiencing the outside world made a difference.
Before, she had never imagined that she would wear clothes worth thousands of yuan in her lifetime, nor did she imagine living on the top floor of a building dozens of stories high.
At first, she felt dizzy just looking out the window.
Later, as she looked down at the dense crowd of people outside the window, a subtle change began in her heart. Then, her heart returned to peace.
At that moment, she understood her younger daughter-in-law's mindset. Everything was just inanimate.
She also understood what her younger daughter-in-law said when teaching her younger granddaughter: "Don't be enslaved by money."
Ouyang Lei came over to ask Tian Jing what time they were leaving tomorrow. He planned to bring his son along, giving his son an opportunity to see what was different in the compound.
Tian Jing raised an eyebrow. "Will Renzhi's teacher allow him to take leave?"
Ouyang Lei glanced at his son, who was playing with a rabbit.
"Renzhi had already told his homeroom teacher that he didn't plan to continue to any higher education, which completely gave up on him."
"Alright, let's go together then," Tian Jing nodded. "We'll leave at seven tomorrow morning. It's over four hours of driving."
In the afternoon, the men slaughtered the live animals, cleaned them, and put them in the refrigerator.
Ouyang Renzhi's pet rabbit, which he had been raising, was naturally spared.
He kept the rabbit in its cage and carried it wherever he went, for fear that his father would slaughter his little grey rabbit if he wasn't careful.
...
The next day, after breakfast, four cars set off towards Beizhou Province.
One of the cars was newly purchased by Han Lushiyi. Previously, if he needed a car on a mission, he would just rent one.
Yu Ziyu and Li Weibo, with Aunt Cai and Yuan Jiyong, prepared a meal at their villa and waited for everyone's arrival.
It was almost noon when the group of over a dozen people, young and old, finally arrived.
It was Yu Ziyu's first time meeting Li Weili. When she saw Li Weili's appearance, she was momentarily stunned, then with a smile, she stepped forward to support Li Weili. "Hello Lili, I'm Yu Ziyu."
Li Weili had only known about this second sister-in-law through her family.
Seeing her in person now, she realized her family hadn't exaggerated.
She also smiled back, "Hello, second sister-in-law."
Yu Ziyu's smile widened even further. "Come, let's go inside and sit down before we talk."
The group entered the villa and immediately started the meal.
After the meal, they first settled into the villa opposite.
Li Weibo followed behind Han Lushiyi, helping to carry luggage, while Han Lushiyi supported his sister.
After his sister went into the bathroom, Li Weibo said to Han Lushiyi, "Ziyu heard some not-so-good rumors. Go and inquire about them, and handle them if necessary."
Han Lushiyi frowned coldly. "In what regard?"
"Your marital history."
"When did it start?"
"Last night."
"I understand."