A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

The cleaning lady who replaced Wang Yingxue at the clothing store was named Shen Qiumei.

Every morning, Shen Qiumei would ride her tricycle out of her house. The tricycle usually carried several buckets of water. She would first fill them with clean water from the public water tap, then turn past the service shop and ride towards Wenxi Garment Shop. She had to clean the area before eight o'clock.

Today, when Shen Qiumei passed by the mutual aid society, she stopped, locked her tricycle, and went inside.

Upon entering, one sees Wang Xiaoling, a part-time employee of the mutual aid society.

"Xiaoling, you're here so early?" Shen Qiumei greeted Wang Xiaoling behind the counter.

"Sister Shen, are you here to register for a task? Or do you want to claim something?" Wang Xiaoling said with a smile.

"I'm here to register some items on the errand slip for Tie Jun," Shen Qiumei said.

Wang Xiaoling pointed to a stack of registration forms clipped to a metal rack by the wall: "They're over there. Write down what you need."

Zhang Tiejun left the errand log here. Ever since he bought that secondhand sidecar motorcycle, he's basically taken care of all the errands for the garment shop. Picking up materials, delivering goods, running errands to textile factories... he only lets others run errands when he's too busy.

He also left a stack of shopping lists at the mutual aid society. Anyone who needed something could write it down. Clothes, appliances, daily necessities, etc., were all included. The delivery fee was calculated based on weight and quantity, a few cents per trip. Anyone who could carry it could bring it. The compound was full of military dependents, so credit wasn't a concern. He would only ask someone to pay for things in advance if they were too expensive.

Shen Qiumei picked up a pen and wrote a line on the list: One schoolbag for a primary school student, the style should be pleasing to the eye, the size should not be too big, preferably with a big red star on it, five or six yuan.

This was what she had promised her child. After all, she now had a job. It didn't pay much, but it didn't take up much time either. She would be busy for a while every morning, and occasionally make another trip during the day to tidy up the table after everyone had eaten and sweep the floor. It was quite leisurely. She was very content with an income of about ten yuan a month.

After registering her belongings, Shen Qiumei glanced at the mutual aid society's bulletin board. There were a few more tasks than when she had come a couple of days ago:

Most of the tasks on the mutual aid society's bulletin board were posted by Ye Wenxi, but after more than two months, other people in the family compound have gradually started posting their own tasks.

* One custom-made wardrobe (with blueprints, wood to be provided by the customer, labor cost negotiable)

*Looking for daytime care for a bedridden elderly person (price negotiable, one month's employment)

* Hire a teacher to teach you to recognize characters, one hour per day, price negotiable.

Sewing machine repair (noisy foot pedal, on-site service required)

.............

Shen Qiumei leaned closer to look at the sign for literacy and was slightly surprised. Wasn't this Sister Liu from the clothing store? Why was she thinking about learning to read at her age?

Shen Qiumei called out to the counter, "Xiaoling, I'm done registering. I'm leaving now."

"See you next time, Sister Shen."

Shen Qiumei pushed open the door, unlocked the tricycle, got on, and slowly rode towards the garment factory.

The April wind felt neither too hot nor too cold on my face, and the water buckets in the truck bed rattled and jingled.

After riding for about ten minutes, Shen Qiumei arrived at the venue. She took out her key to open the door, but found that the small door was unlocked.

Shen Qiumei pushed open the door and walked in, wondering who had arrived so early. Turning the corner in the corridor, she saw Ye Wenxi frowning, hunched over a pile of documents on the table.

"Hey? Wenxi, you're here so early?" Shen Qiumei stood at the door, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Yeah, I've got a lot going on today, I'm busy with the trade fair." Ye Wenxi said, then lowered her head again. "Sister Shen, you're busy, don't worry about me."

Shen Qiumei was picking up an apron and putting it on when Ye Wenxi suddenly looked up.

Ye Wenxi: "By the way, Sister Shen, did you have anything else going on during the day?"

Shen Qiumei: "No, basically I finish my work in the morning, come in the afternoon to tidy up, and there's not much else to do."

"Sister Shen, please sit down. I need to discuss something with you." Ye Wenxi pushed the materials on the table to the side and pulled over a chair.

Shen Qiumei walked over and sat down: "Okay."

Ye Wenxi: "Sister Shen, can you read?"

Shen Qiumei: "I recognize you, I went to junior high school."

Ye Wenxi: "Sister Shen, we're receiving and sending more and more packages now, and Xiaoxue is a bit overwhelmed. She also has other things to help me with. So we're short a warehouse manager and a shipping clerk. Would you be willing to try during the day?"

Shen Qiumei paused for a moment, then leaned forward: "What do warehouse managers...do they all do?"

"Warehouse management. Receiving and sending express packages, helping with packing, registration, and sorting. Sometimes we need to pick up and deliver things, that's it. The work isn't heavy, but it's a bit tedious, and there's a lot of physical work involved, so you have to be meticulous," Ye Wenxi explained carefully.

After hearing this, Shen Qiumei rubbed her hands on her knees, not daring to respond directly. She knew how expensive Ye Wenxi's fabrics were; a roll of cloth cost tens or hundreds of yuan, and a garment cost hundreds of yuan. If she lost even one garment, she wouldn't be able to afford to replace it for half a year.

"If something is lost, do we have to pay for it?" Shen Qiumei asked, rubbing the corner of her apron.

"Normally, it depends on whether it was negligent, and the specific cause will be handled accordingly. If it was intentional, needless to say, any procedural errors will be dealt with according to the degree of responsibility. There is indeed responsibility, but it is not unlimited liability," Ye Wenxi explained.

Shen Qiumei was somewhat interested in this new job; it sounded much more professional than cleaning. But what if something went wrong...?

Ye Wenxi noticed her hesitation and softened her tone: "Sister Shen, you don't need to worry too much about security. As long as you keep careful records, keep track of everything going in and out of the warehouse, and properly categorize and pack the items you bring back, there generally won't be any problems. Our facility is different from outside; it's located within the military region, and we're surrounded by familiar faces from military families, so the security is much better."

Shen Qiumei agreed with Ye Wenxi's point. They were all military dependents; who would dare steal? Stealing would cost their husbands their jobs. Outsiders couldn't easily get in, so there shouldn't be any problem.

"Sister Shen, if you're willing to give it a try, I'll give you an extra salary as a warehouse manager. You're currently making fifteen yuan a month doing cleaning, and I'll add another twenty. It might be a bit tough overall, and you won't have much free time during the day."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiumei realized that thirty-five yuan was quite a sum. Her heart pounded, and her palms felt warm.

Shen Qiumei: "Then shall I give it a try? It doesn't matter if I'm tired or not, I'm just idling around anyway."

Ye Wenxi: "Okay. Then you go with Xiaoxue for a couple of days and let her explain the specifics to you. Let's try it out for three days first, and if it goes well, we'll start doing it officially, okay?"

Shen Qiumei: "Sure, sure! I'll work with Xiaoxue today."

Ye Wenxi: "Okay, thank you for your hard work, Sister Shen."

"It's no trouble at all, thank you so much, Wenxi, for thinking of me like this. I'm going to get back to work now." Shen Qiumei thanked her profusely, her smile wide as she picked up the mop and went to get to work.

Ye Wenxi continued to hunch over his desk, looking at the to-do list for the exhibition.

Custom-made display case molds

Customized promotional display racks

Exhibition sales clerk interview (to be completed)

Finished product inventory (80%) during the exhibition and sales period.

On-site display plan (to be finalized)

..........

She marked up and crossed out several items on the list.

The department store offered her a 15-day exhibition booth, though she could have applied for a month, but she didn't ask for more.

Firstly, we don't have that many finished products. Secondly, we're not sure about the results yet. We'll test the waters for a short period first, see the reaction, and then dismantle the exhibition for a concentrated adjustment. If it really runs smoothly, it won't be too late to apply for a permanent counter then.

"By the way, Sister Shen, when you deliver the tricycle to Aunt Lang today, please tell her for me that she doesn't need to bring me lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. My husband and I will eat together," Ye Wenxi said to Shen Qiumei, who was cleaning.

"Okay, sure~"