1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

I bought enough vegetables for the family to eat. As for the vegetables for the dumpling filling, I'll have to buy them tomorrow.

Today is Saturday, and tomorrow is Sunday, which are rest days when no one is working. So they plan to reopen on Monday, and it's not too late to buy groceries tomorrow.

Back home, the second brother and Lu Mingyu had already washed the sheets and blankets and hung them out to dry in the yard. It was almost time, so the group went home to the family compound for lunch.

After lunch, Miao Cuiying and her second son's family were about to move over, but Qiao Wanqing didn't let them leave. Her in-laws rarely came to her place, after all, it was her son's house, and they would stay for a few days if they came. She couldn't just let them move out as soon as they arrived.

If there's not enough room at home, that's one thing, but if there is enough room, it's not good to keep making people leave.

"Mom, if my second sister-in-law and her family insist on moving there, I won't stop them. But you should stay. Mingzhou might come back any day. Besides, the two little ones haven't seen you in a long time and they almost don't recognize you anymore. It's good for you to stay here and get to know them better."

"As they grow older, their memories will improve; they'll naturally remember things they've seen more of."

"Normally, with so many children at home, I can't leave at all. I have to take the children with me wherever I go. Now that you're here, you can stay home and look after the children for me. I can also go out and run some errands, and give Qiya and Auntie San a break so they can go out and have some fun."

"By the way, we're going to handle the paperwork for opening the shop this afternoon. I'll take you out for a stroll tomorrow. It's not easy to come all this way to the capital, we can't just not go anywhere. I have a camera, I'll take some pictures for you to take back with you."

Miao Cuiying's eyes narrowed into slits with a smile. Of course she was happy that her daughter-in-law was so filial. This daughter-in-law was a rich young lady. Before her son got married, she was worried that the other party would dislike their rural background. Over the years, she had always been careful not to get too close to her daughter-in-law, just in case the other party would look down on her.

She doesn't care whether her daughter-in-law is filial or not; as long as she lives a good life with her son, everything is fine.

She was already very content that her daughter-in-law treated her this way.

"Okay, the second son's family can stay there. The house is full of furniture and rice and flour, it definitely won't work without people. The second son's family will stay there from now on, and I'll stay here for a few days."

Qiao Wanqing laughed and said, "That's more like it! Second brother and sister-in-law, I'll take you there first. I've made an appointment with the doctor to take you there next Wednesday. There's a waiting list there, so Wednesday is the earliest I can get there. I'll pick you up at nine o'clock on Wednesday morning."

Of course, everyone agreed. Qiao Wanqing hadn't returned the car yet, but she took the family there and even helped them get their business license. Lu Mingyue and Lu Mingyu had classes in the afternoon, so they took the bus.

Qiao Wanqing was fine, and with her mother-in-law looking after the children, she felt at ease, so she drove around the neighborhood.

In 1981, there were still many undeveloped areas in Beijing, many of which were prime locations. If you could acquire them now, they would be a fortune in the future!

She only had a small share in her grandfather's factory in the south; her mother didn't get anything. Her eldest uncle was in Shanghai, so it would be very difficult for her mother to get anything. The only possible place was Beijing.

The Qiao family is here. If my maternal grandfather were to invest, he would definitely give the Qiao family face. My mother, the Xu family daughter who married into the Qiao family, is the most suitable candidate. However, my maternal grandfather is deeply patriarchal, and he might not be willing to give such a large business to his daughter.

Because he knew that Xu Hui was not someone who was easy to control.

He preferred to use his illegitimate sons and daughters, who were obedient, to actually do the work for him.

Qiao Wanqing calculated the time in her mind. At her grandfather's pace, he should be able to set up all the factories in two or three years at most. In Beijing, she wanted to plan to open a factory before her grandfather invested, hand it over to her mother to manage, and then ask her grandfather for money after making all the plans.

Since the Qiao family already owns a factory, my grandfather would be too embarrassed to open another similar one in a short period of time to compete with the Qiao family for business. So he could only invest his money in it.

The Xu family is wealthy, but they don't have much power. Only the eldest uncle is doing well in Shanghai. However, the Bai family's previous incident disappointed the maternal grandfather, who wouldn't place all his hopes on the eldest uncle.

Therefore, he would never let go of her, this granddaughter who was still considered a favorite in the Qiao family.

If she can make it in time, securing her grandfather's investment is inevitable, and her mother will achieve her goal.

She could also take this opportunity to go back to the Lu family's hometown and ask Old Master Lu for another round of money, to see just how wealthy that old man really was.

After spending the afternoon exploring, Qiao Wanqing made many marks on the map. These were the areas that deserved special attention in the future, and she was determined to remember them so as not to miss any opportunities to make money!

When they got back to the family compound, it was already dinnertime. Lu Mingzhou still hadn't returned, which disappointed both Qiao Wanqing and Miao Cuiying.

However, it's still acceptable.

On Sunday afternoon, Miao Cuiying was worried. Tomorrow was the opening day of her second son's family's business, and she wanted to go and take a look. Qiao Wanqing was going to take her there, but Miao Cuiying waved her hand and said, "No need, I know how to get there by car. You stay home and look after the children. I'll go by myself."

That evening, she went to the courtyard there, and before dawn the next day, she got up and made steamed buns with Li Dongmei.

They didn't have much of a concept of foot traffic here, but Qiao Wanqing knew that she had come here specifically to observe and inquire about the surrounding area. There were no breakfast vendors nearby, so if they were worried about poor sales on the first day, they would try making about 300 breakfasts first.

So Li Dongmei and Miao Cuiying obediently made three hundred buns, some with meat and some with vegetables. The meat buns cost 25 cents each, and the vegetable buns cost 30 cents for two. This was the price without food coupons.

If you have grain coupons, you can buy it by weight, and the price will be cheaper.

In 1981, grain coupons were still very useful in Beijing. Generally, goods were more expensive without coupons, but with coupons, you could buy them at the supply and marketing cooperatives and get them much cheaper.

Especially for meat and grain, the price difference between those with and without coupons is at least half, and sometimes the price without coupons can be twice as high.

After all, resources were not plentiful at that time, and there weren't many things available for sale without coupons.

Early in the morning, around seven o'clock, there were already quite a few people on the road, some going to work and others going to school. Everyone had a different destination, so their departure time was naturally different.

Some people were quite surprised to see a steamed bun shop at the intersection.

"Wow, this just opened?"

"It seems so, it wasn't there when I passed by yesterday!"

Seeing that they were two well-dressed young women, Miao Cuiying smiled and said, "Miss, we just opened for business today. Would you like to try some? It's a family recipe, absolutely authentic."

She quoted a price, and the two girls exchanged a glance. The price was acceptable.

"Give me two meat buns!"