Back To The 80s-Chapter 481 - 492: Joke_1

Jiang Jiayan immediately held her tongue. She was still dependent on her brother at this point and could not afford to upset him.

Jiang’s mother, staring at her hopeless daughter, kept nagging, "This time you’re getting married again, you’d better make it work. Don’t be unstable every few days. This man is your own choice. If it wasn’t for your status as a divorcee, I would never let you marry a man who has no money, no house, no proper job, and is already divorced."

Jiang Jiayan glanced at her gloomy-faced brother and retorted softly, "He isn’t that bad. Why are you all so critical? Xiangyang is quite good, he mentioned that he has a brother-in-law who runs a big business."

Jiang’s mother rolled her eyes, "Do you even have a brain? Did you see it or heard about it? And even if his brother-in-law is running a large business, it’s still his brother-in-law’s business. What does it have to do with him?"

Jiang Jiayan snorted, "Enough, you guys plainly look down on Xiangyang. Regardless, we’re getting married soon, and it’s too late whether you like it or not!" She then stormed into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Jiang’s mother pointed at the slammed door and cursed, "Did I raise her just to throw herself desperately at every man she sees?"

Jiang Jiahua furrowed his brows, looking at his mother, "Mom, Jiayan is going to get married, don’t curse with such harsh words. The neighbors might hear and make fun of us."

"We’ve already lost face, there’s nothing left for the neighbors to mock. Did you know I went to deliver the invitations this morning? The looks that people gave me, I wish I could’ve ripped off my old face and hid it in my pocket," grumbled Jiang’s mother, grinding her teeth.

Jiang Jiahua sat on the couch, staying silent. To a large extent, Jiang’s mother had indulged Jiang Jiayan. It’s too late to play the blame game now.

Just when Gu Xiaobei was curious about who Jiang Jiayan was getting married to, Xiangmin sent an invitation to attend her brother Xiangyang’s wedding.

Gu Xiaobei looked at the names of Xiangyang and Jiang Jiayan on the invitation, chuckling to himself. He thought, ’Indeed, every jack has his Jill.’

"Can you and Zhanguo make it? Care to join us for the festivities?" Xiangmin asked with a smile.

Gu Xiaobei placed the invitation on the table and regretfully replied, "It’s quite unfortunate, Zhanguo’s comrade is also getting married on New Year’s Day, we promised to attend that wedding a while ago."

Xiangmin faltered for a moment and then forced a smile, "You both could split up, one attends one feast and the other attends the other."

Gu Xiaobei shook his head, "I’ve already promised to act as the bride’s maid of honor and welcome the bride. It wouldn’t be good to back out now." He then pulled out five bucks from his pocket, fished out a red envelope from a drawer, put the money in it and handed it to Xiangmin, "This is to make up for our absence."

Staring at the red envelope, Xiangmin hesitated, before quickly waving his hand and saying, "That’s not what I meant. I was thinking about inviting Fengmei and Li Juan to make the event more lively."

"Quite an unfortunate coincidence," replied Gu Xiaobei, secretly relieved that his schedule for New Year’s Day was fully booked.

After sitting at Gu Xiaobei’s place for a while, Xiangmin excused herself to deliver the invitation to Li Fengmei.

Watching Xiangmin leave, Gu Xiaobei squinted his eyes. He couldn’t help but feel the obvious intention behind their invitations, one that made it hard not to be wary.

As the end of the month approached, Gu Xiaobei noticed that Ou Ruoshui hadn’t made any moves to sell the factory, which led him to wonder if she had changed her mind. Just as he was considering whether to ask her about it, Ou Ruoshui came to him.

Ou Ruoshui meticulously inspected the shop after entering, then said, "Your shop is indeed thriving. It has everything. Everything one needs can be bought right here from you."

Looking at Ou Ruoshui, who he hadn’t seen in a few days and who seemed to be glowing with a motherly warmth, Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "I’m just trying to make ends meet. It’s only because of the variety of products that I can attract customers."

Without wasting any time in pleasantries, Ou Ruoshui pulled up a stool, sat down in front of Gu Xiaobei, and said, "I want to sell the factory. If you don’t have enough cash on hand, you can give me twenty thousand for now. You can pay the rest when you have the money."

This abruptness left Gu Xiaobei somewhat taken aback. He paused for a moment before replying, "Are you in urgent need of cash? I could lend you some."

Ou Ruoshui shook her head, smiling, "I am in desperate need of money and I also need to sell the factory. I’ve realized that I’m not cut out for this. Now that I have Jiujiu, I want to spend more time with her. If I continue running the business, I won’t have time for Jiujiu."

Gu Xiaobei suggested, "You can find someone suitable to run the factory and you seize the opportunity to spend quality time with Jiujiu at home. It’s not necessary for you to do everything yourself."

"Easier said than done. I’ve already been too careless with personnel management this time. Of course, there are other factors, but the biggest problem lies with me," Ou Ruoshui said with a bitter smile.

Seeing Ou Ruoshui’s predicament, Gu Xiaobei did not pry further. After all, a lot had happened in the past eleven years.

"How much do you want to sell the factory for?" Gu Xiaobei asked.

Ou Ruoshui thought for a moment and answered, "Between purchasing the land and building the factory, I spent just under thirty thousand. Then, purchasing the sealing machine and other things was about another ten thousand. Plus other miscellaneous expenses, the total was not yet sixty thousand. If you want it, you can give me fifty thousand."

Gu Xiaobei was taken aback. Ou Ruoshui was really rich! She dared to invest fifty to sixty thousand without doing any prior research. But now from the price mentioned by Ou Ruoshui, he calculated in his heart. Ou Ruoshui had only suffered a loss of around four to five thousand. However, everything counts, even the day that it doesn’t move. The items you bought back, even if they were not used, and sold the next day, they would be considered second-hand goods. So, since these were second-hand goods, they should have second-hand prices which were reasonable for both parties.

"Okay, I’ll give you twenty thousand tomorrow. Once we’ve completed the transfer procedures, I’ll give you the rest," Gu Xiaobei replied, nodding with a smile.

Ou Ruoshui heaved a sigh of relief. She could use these twenty thousand to deal with things from her past. As for the rest of the money, she’d wait for the right opportunity to return to business.

Having concluded the business discussion, the two chatted about family matters. Gu Xiaobei asked, "How has Jiujiu been? Is she doing well in her studies?"

Mentioning Jiujiu, Ou Ruoshui’s smile greatly increased, "Yes, Jiujiu is very smart. She always scores a hundred on her exams and is good at drawing as well."

Gu Xiaobei nodded and smiled, "Jiujiu has always been a smart and sensible child."

"Yes. Every day Jiujiu insists on sweeping and washing dishes, and at night she helps in preparing medicinal foot bath for her grandma. Her childhood could have been better, if only I had come back earlier," Ou Ruoshui’s voice drifted off slightly towards the end.

Gu Xiaobei comforted her, "Life is all about fate. Everyone’s life is predetermined. Now that you and Jiujiu will never be apart again, isn’t that better?"

"Yes, we’ll never be apart. Why haven’t I seen Qin Li?" Ou Ruoshui suddenly realized that she hadn’t seen Qin Li all this while.

"She’s in the storeroom overseeing the tea leaf sorting. We received a new batch of tea leaves yesterday. I asked her to check for any inferior products," answered Gu Xiaobei.