Chapter 24: Then Come Spend New Year’s at My Place

It only took a few days for the letter to arrive.

The elderly couple dragged their exhausted bodies back home. A neighbor from the compound mentioned that a letter had arrived for them, handed it over, and left.

By now, their relationship with everyone else in the compound had soured.

Everyone knew that the couple had borrowed money without paying it back, yet somehow still had enough to eat well—news like that spread fast.

People thought the two were simply too hypocritical. No wonder Gu Qiangwei had left back then. Everyone now agreed—it had been the wisest decision she ever made.

If she had stayed in that house, they would’ve dragged her down with them.

The moment the couple saw the letter, their eyes lit up. It must be a letter from their son. If he sent a decent amount of money, then starting next month, they wouldn’t have to work anymore.

Even though their current jobs were just menial labor, they still came home exhausted every single day.

After returning home, they cooked a meal and washed up, eager to sleep. They didn’t have the energy to think about anything else.

Even though they had been doing this for a while and were somewhat used to it, they were still utterly worn out. After all, they were getting old—their bodies just couldn’t take it anymore.

Holding the letter, they went back inside. Wang Shufen wanted to open it right away, but Zhao Minghua stopped her.

“Let’s eat first, then read it. I’m starving.”

“Better to save the anticipation for later.”

Despite her eagerness, Wang Shufen had no choice but to listen. After all, she couldn’t read anyway, so she went into the kitchen to cook.

Soon, the meal was ready. After the two of them ate, Wang Shufen immediately tore the letter open, and out fell five yuan.

Only five yuan?

Wang Shufen stared at the money, stunned.

That didn’t make sense—wasn’t their son recently promoted? If he had been promoted, then his salary should be much higher than before.

Shouldn’t he have sent more money? They had even written in their last letter that their house had been completely robbed and the compensation money stolen.

“Don’t panic just yet. Let me read what the letter says first.”

Lu Minghua took the letter and read it. After a while, he sighed and said, “He said he used to be just an ordinary soldier. Even if he got some commendations, the bonuses weren’t much.”

“Now that he’s a platoon leader, his salary has increased, but not by a lot. Plus, he has to keep some savings over there—because he’s pursuing the daughter of a commanding officer.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Zhao Minghua said quickly, adapting to the situation. “Our son is trying to move up. If he’s chasing after the daughter of a high-ranking officer, he’s going to need to spend money. If we take everything he has, how’s he supposed to win her over?”

Wang Shufen also found his explanation reasonable.

Their son was in a crucial period—working hard on his career and his love life.

Of course, that required money.

If he didn’t invest in winning her over, and someone else swooped in and snatched the girl away, then what?

So the couple expressed their understanding.

“Let’s just accept the five yuan for now. It’s already something. We’ll work a bit more over here, and maybe send him some money later.”

“If he really manages to marry the officer’s daughter, then we won’t have to worry about anything in the future!”

“Now is the time to invest. The more we give now, the more he’ll remember how good we were to him later!”

Wang Shufen felt that Zhao Minghua made a lot of sense. Looks like she’d still have to go to work tomorrow.

She was already doing cleaning work during the day—maybe she could take a night shift cleaning job too?

The night shift paid pretty well—one yuan per cleaning. That added up nicely over a month.

But it was hard for one person to manage. If two people did it together, it was barely manageable, just took a bit more time.

Wang Shufen immediately brought it up to Zhao Minghua.

He wasn’t too thrilled about it at first, but after thinking it through, he finally agreed. He told her to speak to the person in charge tomorrow and let them know the two of them would clean at night.

Meanwhile, Gu Qiangwei knew nothing about what was happening with them. After selling out their winter collection, the end of the year was approaching.

They released some new festive clothing for the New Year and started a big clearance sale on their older summer and autumn stock.

They sorted out all the items that weren’t particularly expensive and sold them at discounted prices.

The more a customer bought, the more likely they were to get an extra piece for free.

They had already made their profits off these clothes, so selling them cheap now wouldn’t be a loss—it would actually help them get their capital back quickly.

For the New Year, they also had to begin designing their spring collection, so they’d be ready to launch right after the holiday break.

The two of them agreed on the plan.

“Let’s do this big clearance sale for a few days—right up until the day before New Year’s Eve. Then we’ll take a break for the holiday.”

“After the break, we’ll launch the spring line. How does that sound?”

Su Qingshuang finished speaking, and Gu Qiangwei nodded in agreement. They had already selected all the clearance items, and the promotion would start the next morning.

With just a few days left before the New Year, they’d finish up the sale just as Su Qingshuang suggested.

The plan was solid.

The next morning.

The two of them opened up early, using a loudspeaker to call out from the storefront. They set up a stall outside, displaying the discounted clothes.

After explaining the promotion, people began crowding around to shop.

Some of the clothes were their own designs. Others were sourced from large southern factories clearing out inventory—brought back by Su Qingshuang’s mother.

She suggested adding those to this clearance event so everything would feel fresh and different.

That way, customers wouldn’t feel like the shop’s clothes lost value too quickly.

These clothes had all been carefully selected by her mother—good quality at the lowest possible price.

When added to the clearance stock, many customers noticed that these were pieces they hadn’t seen in the shop before and even asked about it.

“Don’t worry, everyone—these are items we sourced from our partner factories. We’ve checked the quality ourselves.”

“The quality is just as good as our in-store clothes. We’re doing this year-end clearance not to dump products but to give back to our new and loyal customers!”

Hearing that, customers began choosing pieces with confidence.

They could tell by touch that the materials were good—probably high cost price originally.

The only reason they were on sale was because the season had passed.

Su Qingshuang and Gu Qiangwei were both at the shop these past few days.

Because of the clearance event, there was a constant stream of customers. Even the regular-priced festive clothes were selling like hotcakes.

Gu Qiangwei had asked Su Qingshuang to make a batch of red clothes—and they sold especially well.

People in this era were very focused on good fortune and happiness. Red clothes were incredibly popular during New Year.

As the holiday approached, foot traffic picked up even more. Gu Qiangwei and Su Qingshuang were busy from dawn till late at night, sometimes eating dinner only after everything else was done.

After several hectic days, suddenly, there were only two days left until the New Year.

Finally getting a short break, Su Qingshuang asked Gu Qiangwei, “How are you planning to spend the New Year?”

“Oh, just something simple. I live alone now, so I’ll cook myself a feast. Even alone, I shouldn’t shortchange myself!”

It was the same in her past life.

Back then, she had diligently taken care of Wang Shufen and Zhao Minghua, buying them gifts for the New Year and sharing dinner with them.

But shortly after eating, the two of them would go off to rest.

And she’d usually be busy again by the second or third day of the New Year—she never really got to enjoy the holiday.

She didn’t have any strong feelings about it now.

“Then come spend New Year’s at my place!”