Back To The 80s-Chapter 383 - 393: The Wedding_1
Bai Xiaolan laughed foolishly with her mouth wide open, hastily changing into a long dress. A maiden urged her to sit and used Ottoman juice to paint her eyebrows into a connected heart shape. They also put a hat of flowers on her head, with a string of beads hanging down in front of her forehead.
Just as she finished dressing up, melodious harp sounds and cheerful Dongbula music could be heard from outside the felt room, accompanied by a few young men singing.
The maidens inside the felt room also began to sing. As their songs ended, several young men, accompanied by Ji Xiangdong, stepped into the room. Ji Xiangdong, adorned in a white stand-collar shirt with golden designs sown around the collar, looked endearingly at his bride, Bai Xiaolan. Dressed in a long dress, the once tomboyish Bai Xiaolan exuded a touch of femininity.
The young men and maidens surrounded the new couple, singing and dancing, filling the air with their blessings.
After a few songs, Ji Xiangdong, hand in hand with Bai Xiaolan, left the felt room and entered another. Inside, Elder Ji sat cross-legged on a kang, a traditional Chinese heatable bed-stove, dressed in new clothes. The kang table was set with tea and refreshments.
Ji Xiangdong led Bai Xiaolan in kneeling down to Elder Ji, offering tea and kowtowing.
Elder Ji laughed, his eyes brimming with tears: "The two of you, as husband and wife, must always support and respect each other, and build a fulfilling home."
Bai Xiaolan thought that the wedding ceremony had ended, only to realize it had just begun.
Everyone once again gathered on the grassland in front of the felt room, placing the bride and groom in the center. While strumming the Dongbula and singing songs of blessings, a few young men set up a frame to roast a whole sheep.
Several quick horses rushed down from the far-off mountains, with young men on their backs whooping and chasing each other, staging a sheep-fetching contest. Bai Xiaolan watched in surprise, fondly watching their impressive riding skills, her hand firmly holding Ji Xiangdong’s.
The unique wedding ceremony, which also included singing dialogue and cloth-pulling, continued until evening. The crowd then dispersed, returning to their felt rooms, leaving the newlywed couple to enjoy their blissful night.
......
September also proved to be a lucky month for Gu Xiaobei. As the weather cooled down, business suddenly picked up. Gu Xiaobei knew that this was due to the Golden September and Silver October’s high consumer sales in the retail industry. Moreover, the approaching Mid-Autumn Festival would see more people engaging in family visits.
Gu Xiaobei printed some beautiful ’Full Bloom, Full Moon’ paintings and pasted them on the backs of brick teas or used them to package two packs of sugar cubes, adding a festive touch to the products. She also ordered a batch of tin-box mooncakes from the manufacturer, each box containing four mooncakes with images of Chang’e flying to the moon or ’Full Bloom, Full Moon’ printed on it.
Everyone knew that the products here were slightly cheaper than at the supply and marketing cooperative outlets, and now their packaging attracted even more eyeballs, increasing their popularity as gifts.
Many workplaces also distributed holiday gifts to their employees, and many of them came to make bulk purchases. For large orders, Gu Xiaobei would offer a fraction of the profit, writing down the original price on the receipt. This allowed those making the purchases to earn a hefty commission, which brought them great joy.
Hence, all twenty thousand boxes of mooncakes that Gu Xiaobei had ordered were sold out even before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Seeing this, Qin Li delightfully said, "Sister Xiaobei, there are still a few days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, shall we order more mooncakes?"
Gu Xiaobei shook her head, "That’s it for this year. If we order more mooncakes, we may not be able to sell them all. And we want to give others the impression that our prices and products are so good that they sell out even before the holiday. Next year, they’ll surely place their orders early. Moreover, just you watch, in the next couple of days, some people will try to sell mooncakes and end up not being able to sell all of them, causing a market saturation. If so, they definitely won’t be able to sell them."
Qin Li looked at Gu Xiaobei in admiration, "Sister Xiaobei, you’re amazing."
Gu Xiaobei chuckled, "You’re amazing, too. You handle all these accounts even better than I do, even though I’m the one who studied accounting. You should consider getting an accounting certificate when you have some free time. It’ll definitely come in handy in the future."
Qin Li nodded, "I’ll start studying this winter."
Once the mooncake rush was over, Gu Xiaobei decided to head home early. It had been several days since she had spent quality time with her child.
She rode her bike to the vegetable market, bought a fish, and purchased two jin of meat. She noticed that this month, despite giving Wen Xiuqing fifty yuan for groceries, there seemed to be fewer instances when meat was served. She figured Wen Xiuqing must have used the money to help Lu Ruixue, giving Mo Wang and Xiaopang only a bit of meat for their dumplings. She was a bit irritated but didn’t say anything. After all, Wen Xiuqing was the one taking care of her two children and preparing meals every day. It wasn’t worth creating an unpleasant atmosphere at home over such a trivial matter, so she decided to let it slide.
When Gu Xiaobei got home, she found Lu Zhanguo in the courtyard, holding Xiaopang’s hand and walking back and forth. She asked in surprise, "Why did you come home so early today?"
"I had some business to take care of in the city today, so I came home early. Why are you home early as well?" Lu Zhanguo knew that ever since Gu Xiaobei had ordered twenty thousand boxes of mooncakes, she had been busy until late at night.
Gu Xiaobei lifted her chin proudly, "Our mooncakes are all sold out. Guess how much money we made this time?"
Lu Zhanguo shook his head. He couldn’t help guessing seeing Gu Xiaobei’s playful expression, "Five thousand?"
Gu Xiaobei smiled and shook her head.
"Ten thousand?"
Gu Xiaobei continued to shake her head, extending two slender fingers and waving them in front of Lu Zhanguo with pride.
Incredulous, Lu Zhanguo exclaimed, "Twenty thousand? My God, how did you manage to sell them all?"
Gu Xiaobei squatted down, hugging Xiaopang, and said, "Mooncakes are seasonal products, so it’s a high-profit industry. I just added an average of one yuan to each box, and I didn’t even increase the price too much. Wait until next year when I design our packaging."
Lu Zhanguo was dumbfounded. If she were willing to increase the price even higher, how much more money could she have made?
Gu Xiaobei looked around, "Where are mom, dad, and Mo Wang?"
Lu Zhanguo shook his head, "Mom went shopping, dad took Mo Wang and Dabing to visit neighbors in the backyard."
"I bought meat. Do you want dumplings or braised pork for dinner tonight?" Gu Xiaobei asked.
The small Xiaopang in her arms mumbled, "Meat, eat meat."
Gu Xiaobei lightly scratched her daughter’s nose while laughing, "Okay, let’s stew some meat for our Xiaopang."
When Gu Xiaobei was cutting meat in the kitchen, Wen Xiuqing returned home carrying an empty vegetable basket. Gu Xiaobei glanced at her, but didn’t say anything. There were plenty of vegetables in their courtyard anyway, so there was no real need to go shopping for more.
Seeing Gu Xiaobei in the kitchen, Wen Xiuqing hesitated for a moment before asking, "Why did you come home so early today?"
"Nothing much to do in the shop, so I came back early. Thank you and dad for your hard work these past few days." Gu Xiaobei said as she continued to cut the meat.
Wen Xiuqing seemed to be in a rather low mood. After hearing Gu Xiaobei’s words, she just shook her head and said, "It’s our duty."
Seeing Wen Xiuqing down in the dumps, Gu Xiaobei knew she must have just come from visiting Lu Ruixue. Seeing her daughter suffer must have made her feel awful.
Wen Xiuqing grabbed a stool and sat down, peeling a spring onion to help, and said, "Xiaobei, I have something to tell you. I took twenty yuan from the grocery money you gave me this month and gave it to Ruixue. I know I shouldn’t have, but seeing her in that state just broke my heart."
