1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 171 Only a few days apart, and she's already turned into a resentful young wife.
"Mom, look, Leilei's shop is over there, it's the first one on the right after you go up the stairs."

At the southeast corner of the market on the first floor, Lin Xiyu's mother indeed came with her grandmother. The two stood at the bottom of the stairs, craning their necks to look up.

The stairs were a bit high and crowded. Grandma was old and her legs weren't very strong, so Chen Xiulan didn't want her to climb them because she was afraid of tiring her out.

"Grandma."

Lin Xiyu clung to the railing and looked down, just in time to meet her grandmother's face. She waved happily and ran down the stairs.

"Xi Yu".

Grandma was also very happy to see her, and her eyes crinkled with laughter.

Grandma, what brings you here?

Lin Xiyu squeezed down the stairs and happily hugged her grandmother.

Chen Xiulan answered for her grandmother: "Your grandmother was worried and wanted to come and see you."

"What are you worried about?"

Lin Xiyu said coquettishly, "Mengmeng and I were able to come back from Shanghai. How could we possibly get lost in the small commodities market?"

"How's business?"

Grandma asked with concern.

"Okay."

Lin Xiyu didn't want her grandmother to worry, so she gave a perfunctory reply.

"Leilei didn't come over after work?"

Chen Xiulan, with her sharp eyes, couldn't see her cousin through the railing: "Is it just you and Mengmeng?"

"It's almost the end of the year, the renovation companies must be very busy."

Lin Xiyu covered for her cousin, saying, "She didn't come over; she probably hasn't finished get off work yet."

"Let's go up and have a look."

When Grandma saw that her eyes were darting around, she sighed inwardly and didn't expose her little trick.

"The steps are high, so be careful."

Chen Xiulan quickly reached out to help him up.

Lin Xiyu also supported her grandmother's arm, and together with her mother, they helped her up the stairs.

"Grandma, please sit down."

When Wu Meng saw her grandmother come up, she very tactfully brought over a chair with a backrest.

"You are busy with your business, don't worry about me."

Grandma saw that people kept coming in and didn't want to delay their business.

"Uh-huh."

Following the old lady's wishes, Lin Xiyu continued to greet the guests.

Grandma, with her rich experience, silently observed every customer lingering and haggling in the shop, and gradually figured out the tricks of the trade.

"Xi Yu, come here."

She called Lin Xiyu over and gave her some advice: "Most of the people who come to shop at night are residents who live nearby. Their mentality is that since they live close by, they can come and shop here often, and they can buy whatever they want when the price is lower. Just tell them that there is only one of each style, and once it's sold out, that's it. They should get anxious when you say that, and you'll have the upper hand."

"Uh-huh."

Lin Xiyu's eyes lit up, and she admired her grandmother immensely.

-

As Grandma predicted, some people were hoping to find a bargain. They originally wanted to negotiate a lower price or wait until the last day before the small commodities market closed on the 29th of the lunar year to buy.

Upon hearing that there was only one item, his expression immediately changed, and his fingers involuntarily clenched the clothes tightly, as if afraid that someone else would snatch them away.

Lin Xiyu and Wu Meng felt much less pressure and sold several items in no time.

-

"mom"

Chen Xiulan had reservations: "If you let Xiyu and the others sell like this, what will happen to the remaining stock? There are so many different kinds, are you just going to leave them all unsold?"

"Not for sale tonight."

Grandma sat leisurely and said calmly, "If we hang it up tomorrow during the day, these won't be the same people coming to buy clothes."

"What if someone comes and sees us?"

Chen Xiulan muttered under her breath, "Wouldn't that be lying?"

"How many businessmen tell the truth?"

Grandma gave her daughter a look that said she was an idiot: "That's why I said you're only good at being a teacher. If you were to go into business, you'd definitely get ripped off."

"I'm thinking of Xiyu and the others."

Chen Xiulan remained unconvinced: "Doing business requires integrity; lying is never a good thing."

"Who is lying?"

Grandma said matter-of-factly, "If anyone asks, just say that we saw it was selling well, so we temporarily ordered a few more of the same style. What's wrong with that? Xiaoyi, tell me, isn't Grandma right?"

"Correct."

Xu Yi was a clever little devil; between his maternal grandmother and his mother, he decisively chose the one with the higher status in the family.

"You are old, you are right."

Sure enough, the next second, Chen Xiulan also chickened out and dared not argue anymore.

-

With her grandmother's advice and support, Lin Xiyu was like a god, selling more than a dozen items in one night.

Wu Meng also sold seven items, and she couldn't stop smiling as she counted her money.

At 21 p.m. sharp, the small commodities market closed, and Wu's mother arrived at the door on time to pick up her daughter and take her home.

Under the guise of filial piety, Wu Meng emotionally stuffed the first money she had ever earned into her mother's hand, which moved her mother to tears.

-

After the Lunar New Year, Chen Xiulan no longer needed to go to school on duty, and with her free time, she personally delivered meals to her daughter.

Xu Yi liked to follow his sister around, and he would wander around the shop all day long.

My cousin went to the pet market and indeed found a veterinarian who examined Cola and prescribed some medicine for his stomach.

With Kele's diarrhea gone and its energy restored, her cousin felt relieved enough to leave it at the shop, entrusting Lin Xiyu to take care of it during the day.

With Xu Yi around, Cola had a playmate.

The two of them, one human and one dog, didn't make a fuss. They could play with a cat toy for half a day, enjoying themselves immensely.

-

The days passed by in a flurry of activity, and before we knew it, it was Lunar New Year's Eve.

With the small commodity market closed, people who have been working hard all year round return to their families on this day that carries the joy and reunion of thousands of households, to celebrate the wonderful festival together.

On the morning of the 31st, as dawn broke, Lin Xiyu was awakened by the sound of firecrackers.

Thinking about all the things she had to do today, she lost her sleepiness and jumped out of bed.

"Xi Yu, up so early?"

Hearing the noise, Chen Xiulan poked half her body out of the kitchen to look.

"Mom, I won't be having lunch at home today."

Lin Xiyu hurriedly explained, "Gu Bin told me to go with him to his grandfather's house and sell the rest of the goods while we're there."

"Go."

Chen Xiulan had no objection: "You and Xiaobin are engaged, so you should go to his house for the New Year."

"We're going to his grandfather's house at noon, and then to his maternal grandfather's house in the evening."

Lin Xiyu came out of her room after changing her clothes and hugged her mother apologetically: "This is the first time I haven't spent the New Year at home. I can't spend a single day with you and Grandma. I feel really bad about it."

"It's okay, Mom doesn't mind."

Chen Xiulan smiled kindly and comforted her in return: "That's how it is after an engagement. It's the custom in old Jinan. On New Year's Eve, you spend the New Year at the groom's house, and on the second day of the New Year, you go back to your parents' house. Tell Xiaobin to come on the second day of the New Year, and we can have dinner together at your maternal grandmother's house that evening."

"Uh-huh."

Lin Xiyu felt a sweet warmth in her heart and returned her mother's happy smile.

-

At 8 a.m., Gu Bin came to pick him up. Since returning to Jinan, he had been helping Wang Fan with company matters and was rarely seen. The two of them met very few times.

"You've finally arrived." Lin Xiyu opened the door and saw that it was him. A feeling of grievance welled up in her heart for no reason: "I don't know what you've been busy with all day. You've almost forgotten about me."

"I could forget anyone but you."

Gu Bin looked at her with doting eyes and reached out to pinch her cheek.

"My mom's home, don't touch me."

Lin Xiyu dodged aside and glared at him unhappily.

"Really angry?"

Gu Bin laughed instead of getting angry: "You miss me so much? It's only been a few days since we last met and you've already turned into a resentful little wife."

"You're just feeling melancholy."

Lin Xiyu got annoyed and punched him in frustration.

Her little bit of strength was like a tickle to Gu Bin; it didn't hurt at all, but he actually enjoyed it and found it quite amusing.

"Alright, alright, don't be angry. I'm here now, so you can do whatever you want with my time all day. It's all yours. If you want to sleep, I can stay with you. That's not impossible."

"Pah, dream on."

Lin Xiyu's ears turned red, and she spat at him, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed.

"Xiao Bin is here?"

Hearing the noise at the door, Chen Xiulan came out of the living room.

"Hello Auntie."

Gu Bin suppressed his smile and greeted her respectfully.

"What are you doing standing at the door? Come in quickly."

Chen Xiulan pretended not to see the two young children flirting and invited them into the house with a smile.

"okay."

After Gu Bin entered the room, he placed the fruit basket he had brought on the coffee table.

"It's enough that you came; there's no need to bring a gift."

Chen Xiulan glanced at the fruit basket and smiled even more kindly.

"Auntie, I have good news for you."

Taking this opportunity, Gu Bin told her the outcome of the divorce proceedings: "Attorney Hu told me that the court has ruled that you have custody of Xiao Yi. He will discuss the specifics with you after the New Year."

"Yeah?."

Chen Xiulan was overjoyed: "After more than half a year of hard work, we finally have results."

"Mom, this has finally fulfilled your wish."

Lin Xiyu was genuinely happy for her mother: "Change my younger brother's surname to Chen, so he can take your surname and have no further connection with the Xu family."

"The surname must be changed."

Chen Xiulan wholeheartedly agreed: "No one can take my son away from me."

"Changing your surname is acceptable."

Gu Bin kindly reminded him: "However, it is probably impossible to completely sever ties with the Xu family. Xu Weiguo has visitation rights. If Xiao Yi's grandparents want to see their grandson, we also need to consider their feelings. At least let them see him once a month, and we can't let things get too tense."

"If you two want to see each other, then go ahead."

Chen Xiulan was in a good mood and readily agreed: "His grandparents treat him quite well. As long as they don't try to take my son away from me, I'm not an unreasonable person."

"It's good that Auntie knows what's going on."

Gu Bin stopped there and said no more.

"Mom, we're leaving."

Lin Xiyu put on her coat and prepared to go out.

"Go ahead, don't worry about home, have fun."

At this moment, Chen Xiulan was looking at her son-in-law like a mother-in-law, and the more she looked at him, the more pleasing he became.

"Uh-huh."

Lin Xiyu happily agreed and went out with Gu Bin.

-

The wool sweater they needed to take was left in the small courtyard on the first floor. After the two went downstairs, they went to their grandmother's house and chatted with her for a while.

Lin Xiyu brought back a new wool sweater from Shanghai, giving one to each of the women in her family. She planned to give the remaining three to Gu Bin's grandmother, maternal grandmother, and his mother.

Although his mother didn't like her and the two hadn't officially met yet, they still had to be polite. At the very least, she couldn't let people think that she, as the younger generation, was being inconsiderate and ruining the New Year's celebrations, causing unhappiness for the whole family.

She specially packaged the three new wool sweaters in gift boxes of different colors, while the rest, which she needed to sell off, remained in woven bags.

My uncle drives a taxi and doesn't even take a break during the Chinese New Year.

Today was his day shift. When he saw his niece was about to go out, he insisted on taking them into his taxi, saying it was difficult to get a taxi during the Chinese New Year, and personally drove them to the western suburbs.

"How wonderful, I also have an uncle."

On Lunar New Year's Eve, many people visit relatives and friends, making it really difficult to hail a taxi during the holiday.

Seeing many people carrying gift boxes on both sides of the road, unable to hail a taxi and shivering in the cold wind, Lin Xiyu couldn't help but sigh – a child with an uncle is a treasure.

How good is your uncle's driving?

The uncle was delighted to hear this and became more energetic, deliberately trying to look cool by speeding up.

The car kept overtaking and braking suddenly, making my niece's heart pound. She trembled as she gripped the handrail, her earlier good mood completely gone.

"Hahaha."

Seeing her tearful expression, her uncle burst into laughter.

"Uncle, drive slowly, be careful not to cause an accident."

Gu Bin couldn't stand it anymore and kindly reminded him.

That's how taxi drivers are.

The uncle didn't take it seriously: "Everyone drives very fast in order to get work and save time."

"It's better to be careful."

Gu Bin didn't say much, and seeing that his uncle didn't take his words to heart, he didn't try to persuade him any further.

-

Upon arriving at the West Suburbs Airport, Gu Bin unexpectedly directed the taxi to turn a corner and head towards the 13th Flight Squadron instead of letting it enter the military compound.

Fu Zheng knew they were coming and was waiting at the entrance of the flight squadron's family compound.

Lin Xiyu got out of the car and realized that she had completely misunderstood.

Gu Bin thought his grandmother would help with the sales, but in reality, she ended up relying on his older brother.

Fighter pilots enjoy much better benefits than ordinary soldiers, and their wives are financially well-off with strong purchasing power.

Lin Xiyu brought a total of 87 wool sweaters, which were quickly snapped up by the captain's wife.

Fu Zheng had bought a pack of General cigarettes beforehand as a token of his gratitude and gave it to his sister-in-law.

Lin Xiyu returned home with 3480 silver dollars without lifting a finger.

-

"How did you convince your older brother to help you sell clothes?"

On the way back to the military compound in the taxi, after we had gone quite a distance from the flight squadron, she couldn't suppress her curiosity any longer and finally asked the question that had been bothering her.

"secret."

Gu Bin smiled mysteriously, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense.

"I'm really curious."

Lin Xiyu was unwilling to give up and wanted to ask further: "What secret does your older brother have that makes him have to swallow his pride and deal with a group of women?"

"Since it's a secret, it's definitely something we can't tell you."

Gu Bin smiled contentedly: "My brother helped me, so naturally I can't be so untrustworthy as to tell others about his privacy."

"Okay, I won't ask anymore."

Lin Xiyu said she wouldn't ask, but her eyes kept glancing at his face.

"hehe."

Gu Bin couldn't help but laugh when he saw her itchy little face.