“You don't have to wear silk, you can wear other clothes.”
Chen Xue Ru brushed it off with a single sentence.
Soon, the coffee arrived. Li Wu Wei took a sip and frowned. It was too bitter.
After a few more words, the tailor arrived. It was a middle-aged woman. She took Qin Huai Ru to the back room to take measurements because her padded jacket would make it difficult to get an accurate reading.
Li Wu Wei seized the opportunity to ask, "Boss lady, your store is really big. Do you have a backyard?"
"No, the backyard belongs to someone else. If it was mine, I would turn it into a sewing room and just make clothes in the store."
Chen Xue Ru picked up her teacup and took a sip, her movements elegant.
"Then why don't you just buy the backyard?"
Li Wu Wei probed, wanting to know the situation with the backyard.
Chen Xue Ru shook her head and said, "I don't know who lives in the backyard. I've looked a few times but never seen anyone. I heard it's a middle-aged man who's very secretive.
I don't know what illegal activities he's involved in. I'm just a little woman and I'm not brave enough to talk to him."
"What's there to be afraid of? I'm brave. I'll go with you next time."
Li Wu Wei volunteered, feeling like the opportunity was right in front of him.
"Why would you go with me?"
Chen Xue Ru pondered. Could he be really interested in her? No, Li Wu Wei already has a wife.
"I want to learn about your business model. Maybe I'll open a store myself someday."
Li Wu Wei came up with a good excuse. He disdained working for wages, but he wouldn't miss the chance to make big money.
"Oh, I thought you were going to be a landlord for the rest of your life. I didn't know you were so ambitious."
Chen Xue Ru realized she had misjudged him last time.
Li Wu Wei shook his head and said, "It's not worth my time to make small money. I'm not going to be a worker. I'm not going to work for someone else."
"Oh, so you have great talent, then?"
Chen Xue Ru's words were sarcastic. Isn't he aiming too high?
Li Wu Wei didn't explain. He turned to say, "I'll come back to pick up my clothes next time. We'll go to the backyard together."
"Alright, that's a deal."
Chen Xue Ru saw that he was tall and strong, which gave her some courage.
After a while, Qin Huai Ru came out. The tailor praised her, saying she was a clothes hanger.
"Boss lady, I'll come back to pick up my clothes in a few days."
Li Wu Wei noticed it was almost time for dinner. It was time to leave. Otherwise, he would have to be treated to a meal, which would be inconvenient and would also disrupt the store's business.
"Alright!"
Chen Xue Ru saw them to the door and gave Qin Huai Ru a silk scarf.
After Li Wu Wei took Qin Huai Ru far away, Qin Huai Ru couldn't help but say, "Brother Li, you seem pretty close to Sister Xue Ru."
"Not really. She's a business owner, so she can be friendly with anyone."
Li Wu Wei thought to himself, "You want to test me? You're still not experienced enough."
"Oh, is she married?"
Qin Huai Ru didn't even care that she was asking such a direct question.
"She has a boyfriend. They're dating. Why are you asking? We're just buying clothes. We're not interested in gossip."
Li Wu Wei dodged the question.
Qin Huai Ru felt a little reassured after hearing this.
Then Li Wu Wei found a small restaurant. It wasn't fancy, he just ordered two dishes and some white noodles. He didn't even order alcohol, just a simple meal.
But Qin Huai Ru was still very happy. Eating at a restaurant like this wasn't bad at all.
"Let's go see our shop. Just act like a regular customer."
Li Wu Wei wanted to see how his family's old business was doing and what kind of dried fruit they were selling. How was the business going?
The area around Dongzhimen wasn't suitable for opening a shop, but things were different here. Qianmen Street was right outside the Zhengyang Gate, the main city gate of Beijing.
Plus, it was close to the train station, so there were many out-of-town customers who could drive up consumption. There were also many wealthy people.
"Alright, alright!"
Qin Huai Ru felt more confident when she thought about her family's shop.
When they arrived, Li Wu Wei saw the shop's sign. It was called a dried fruit store, but it didn't use his grandfather's name. Otherwise, he would have to cause a scene.
The three storefronts were connected and formed a large space. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to afford such a high rent.
But the store wasn't doing well. Today was a weekend. Dried fruit and candy were all about volume.
"What would you like? Choose whatever you want."
A clerk standing behind the counter called out. Then, nothing else. Their customer service skills were lacking.
"Is your store the old one?"
Li Wu Wei looked at the goods based on his memory. He thought they weren't very good, the appearance was off.
"It's not the old one. It's run by the street office. They all have the same supply channels."
The saleswoman was honest. She didn't lie.
"Then I have to buy some to try."
Li Wu Wei immediately picked out some of the main items, like dried apricots, hawthorn, candied fruit, and red dates, and bought some of each.
"Brother Li, that's a lot of money."
Qin Huai Ru calculated that they had spent quite a bit today.
"Huai Ru, I'll tell you, my grandfather passed the dried fruit recipe down to me. That includes the store's main products, like sour plum soup, pear paste, and so on.
I have to taste what this store sells to see how different it is from my family's. If it's suitable for doing business in the future, my grandfather left this store behind, so we have to open it up."
Li Wu Wei didn't mind telling the truth. The bigger the pie, the more devoted Qin Huai Ru would be to him.
"Ah! Your grandpa is so good to you!"
Qin Huai Ru was shocked. It turned out there was an inside story. That was a century-old recipe that must be valuable.
"Of course, cough, cough, mainly because I'm his only grandson."
Li Wu Wei immediately picked up a piece of hawthorn. The color was wrong. It didn't have that crystal clear feel. He put it in his mouth. The taste was off. It was far worse than the one in his memory.
"It's delicious!"
Qin Huai Ru couldn't tell the difference. She just didn't eat enough refined grains.
"How can this be considered delicious? It's much worse than what my grandfather used to sell. This store can't succeed."
Li Wu Wei suddenly felt a little worried about how long he could collect rent for another few months.
In the afternoon, Qin Huai Ru wanted to go back to the courtyard to tidy up the house, so the two of them went back.
When they got back to the courtyard, Li Wu Wei told his wife to go back to the house first. He went to find Yan Bu Gui to ask about growing flowers and plants. He wanted to decorate the front of his house.
"Li Wu Wei, tomorrow Jia Dong Xu is going to get married to his new girlfriend. They're having the wedding next weekend. Did they invite your family?"
Yan Bu Gui brought it up when he saw him.
Li Wu Wei was stunned for a moment before saying, "Getting married tomorrow? Did Jia Dong Xu go to her house today?"
"Go to her house for what? After lunch, the girl left with the matchmaker. They said she'll bring her letter of introduction tomorrow and get married to Jia Dong Xu. What do you think about this?"
Yan Bu Gui pushed up his glasses. In terms of scheming, he felt that Li Wu Wei was the only one in the courtyard who could match him. Everyone else had been schemed into getting a wife. He must be able to see the truth, right?
"What do I think? It's like buying a cat in a sack."
Li Wu Wei said bluntly. He thought there was something wrong with this wife of the Jia family.