Chapter 23 – Lu Zhoushan: Gu Qiangwei Isn’t a Good Person, I Died and She Immediately Went Back to Her Parents’ Home

The two of them worked together seamlessly, and business kept getting better. The shop’s revenue continued to rise steadily.

Meanwhile, in the army, Lu Zhoushan received a letter from home.

“Platoon Leader Lu, a letter for you!”

Lu Zhoushan happened to be passing by the guardroom when the guard called out to him and handed over the letter.

Hearing himself addressed like that, Lu Zhoushan felt quite pleased—as long as no one called him Lu Qingming, he was happy.

Even though he had survived under his older brother’s identity, he didn’t want to permanently become him.

So, being addressed as Lu Zhoushan was fine with him.

Once he had settled down here, he had written a letter to his father explaining that he was still alive, posing as Lu Qingming. This must have been the reply.

He walked away holding the letter, opened it, and gave it a glance.

After reading the contents, he was completely shocked.

Back then, news had spread that he had died, and a 500 yuan death pension had been sent back along with the ashes—which, in fact, were his older brother’s.

And now the 500 yuan pension was gone?

It was stolen ?

The thought made Lu Zhoushan’s head buzz. That thief was way too bold!

And they had cleaned out the entire house too?

What did “cleaned out” mean?

Lu Zhoushan couldn’t quite grasp what his father meant in the letter. Was it that everything in the house had been stolen, or just all the valuable things?

Probably the latter?

After all, no thief would empty an entire house—that would take some serious skill!

Shaking his head, Lu Zhoushan thought of another thing his father wrote: after the news of his “death” was passed along, Gu Qiangwei packed up and left without hesitation.

Hmph!

Lu Zhoushan couldn’t help but scoff—looks like Gu Qiangwei wasn’t a good person either. Good thing he hadn’t rushed back shouting that he was still alive.

Instead, he had continued using his older brother’s identity.

And she really had just left without a second thought once she believed he had died!

Now, the two of them owed each other nothing. Let her go, then. He had survived under this identity and was now pursuing the daughter of a high-ranking officer.

If he could win her over, his future would be bright, and he’d finally live a good life.

As for his parents saying they had no money left to live on—he couldn’t offer them much either.

Even though he had now been promoted to platoon leader, the stipend was still quite low. The last mission bonus had just come in, and even including that, it wasn’t even 30 yuan.

After all, he was still just an ordinary soldier.

Even for a merit award, the reward was only 10 or 20 yuan.

Just the other day, he had gone on a date with the officer’s daughter and bought her a 5-yuan hair clip as a gift. That alone had already drained much of what he had. Still, he couldn’t ignore his parents completely.

He had thought that after all these years, they must’ve saved up quite a bit. When he wrote back saying he was Lu Zhoushan and still alive—and even told them he was chasing after the officer’s daughter—they should’ve been happy and sent him some money.

But things didn’t turn out that way.

Still, he had to make the trip!

Lu Zhoushan returned to the unit with the letter. The next day, during his break, he went to the post office, wrote a reply, and sent a bit of money back to his parents.

Then he went to see the officer’s daughter and asked if she wanted to watch a movie that day.

Girls couldn’t resist this kind of attention. As long as he kept at it, he was sure she’d eventually fall for him!

Meanwhile, back in the shop, Gu Qiangwei was chatting with Xu Yan.

“I want to buy a few more outfits to bring with me to the south. Help me pick something out!” Xu Yan said.

“Wow, Sister Yan, you’re really supporting our business!” Gu Qiangwei joked. “Don’t they have even prettier clothes down south?”

Carrying her purse, Xu Yan walked into the shop. “I still prefer your style. I trust your eye for fashion.”

Hearing this, Gu Qiangwei beamed and quickly invited her to sit down before bringing out a few suitable outfits.

“These are really nice. One or two sets were actually kept aside just for you, based on your preferences. The other set’s already been bought.”

Xu Yan loved what Gu Qiangwei had picked.

“You see? I knew you’d pick the perfect ones for me!” she said with a big smile. She didn’t even bother trying them on—she knew Gu Qiangwei had her size down to a T.

After chatting a bit more, Xu Yan picked out a few other sizes, saying they were gifts for her friends in the south.

Gu Qiangwei teased her, “I’m so jealous of your friends, Sister Yan—they have such a thoughtful and stylish friend like you!”

She was simply putting the idea of “treating customers like friends” into full practice.

Because by becoming friends with customers, they’d feel special—and that made them more likely to come back.

What she didn’t expect was for Xu Yan to actually pull out a gift.

“A little something I brought you from the south—just for fun,” Xu Yan said. “I’ll probably be down south for a month or two this time. When I’m back, I’ll come find you again.”

“Oh, and top up my store credit by 1,000 yuan. My mom’s coming by in a few days too—I recommended your shop to her.”

Gu Qiangwei was still holding the gift, stunned, when Xu Yan casually mentioned the 1,000 yuan top-up.

“That much?” she asked, surprised.

Xu Yan laughed at her expression. “Isn’t this how business works? Don’t act so shocked—just top it up for me and pack my clothes. I need to go.”

Gu Qiangwei nodded quickly, sorted everything for her, and walked her out the door.

“Thank you for the gift, Sister Yan!” she said cheerfully.

Xu Yan got in her car and drove off. Gu Qiangwei returned to the shop.

Not long after, more customers came in. Gu Qiangwei didn’t even have time to open the little gift Xu Yan had given her.

When word got out that topping up store credit came with seasonal outfits, customers flocked in to recharge their balances.

Everyone topped up around 300 yuan—leaving Gu Qiangwei stunned.

So much?

Still, despite her surprise, she warmly helped each one select their free outfits and paired them with matching pieces before seeing them out the door.

The entire day was a whirlwind of activity.

By the time Su Qingshuang came by in the evening, Gu Qiangwei hadn’t even eaten yet. She was still putting away all the clothes customers had tried on earlier.

“Busy all day?” Su Qingshuang asked, seeing how packed the store was.

She quickly joined in to help tidy up. “You haven’t had dinner, have you?”

Lately, Su Qingshuang had been busy with pattern making, so she only dropped by in the evenings.

“Business was booming since we opened this morning. Sister Xu brought us a whole day’s worth of good luck. Everyone who came in today topped up—each starting from at least 200 yuan.”

Hearing that, Su Qingshuang got excited too. The two of them finished cleaning up the store and then tallied up the day’s credit totals.

It came to a whopping 3,000 yuan !

“Wow!” Su Qingshuang exclaimed, clicking her tongue as she looked at the money.

Then she grabbed Gu Qiangwei and pulled her out of the shop—they were going to treat themselves to a fancy dinner.

Their business was soaring.