Chapter 394: Chapter 404: Investigation_1
When they got home, the two kids were still up, aimlessly running around the house.
Xiaopang, seeing his father enter, ran over cheerfully, stretching his arms out and shouting, "Daddy, hug."
Gu Xiaobei laughed and scolded: "This little heartless boy, just one day away from me, and now it’s all ’Daddy is great’. Saying this, he bent down to pick up Mo Wang who ran towards him.
"Zhanguo, you should call your elder brother tomorrow, see when they plan to leave," Wen Xiuqing reminded anxiously.
Lu Zhanguo nodded in response: "Sure, I will make that call tomorrow. However, if the snowfall continues at this rate, I am afraid the roads might get blocked." Lu Zhanguo did not want Xiuqing’s expectations to rise too high and then end in disappointment.
Xiuqing paused, "But didn’t your older brother say that he would return in December?"
Lu Songyuan chimed in from the side, "Xiangdong did say he would return, but if there’s a heavy snowfall, what can they do about it?"
Wen Xiuqing’s mood fell instantly. She had been looking forward to it for so long, yet it turned out, there was still uncertainty.
Gu Xiaobei consoled, "Mom, don’t worry too much. The snow started late this year, my elder brother and sister-in-law will still be able to make it."
Xiuqing immediately nodded, "Right, right. Zhanguo, you call your elder brother tomorrow, ask if it would be possible for them to start a bit earlier."
"Sure, it’s getting late now, you guys should go to sleep too," Lu Zhanguo, hugging a yawning Xiaopang, whispered.
After Gu Xiaobei finished washing up and settling the children to sleep, he quietly slipped into Lu Zhanguo’s bed and said in a hushed voice, "Leaving the department store today, I saw a woman who looked a lot like Jiujiu; she even had a dimple when she smiled. Do you think she could be Xuerong?"
Lu Zhanguo, who had initially been playfully misbehaving under the covers, was taken aback at Gu Xiaobei’s words, "Did you get a good look at her?"
Gu Xiaobei nodded, "There was only the breadth of a street between us, it’s not like you don’t know, the road right before the department store is so narrow, I saw her very distinctly. By the time I realized and wanted to chase, her small car had already driven far away."
Lu Zhanguo frowned, "If it really was Xuerong, she should have gone looking for Jiujiu, the policies have improved now."
Fearing to wake the children, Gu Xiaobei continued in a hushed voice, "I wonder if that was Xuerong’s biological sister, or maybe Xuerong has forgotten her past."
"Did you see the license plate number of the vehicle? We can get Shen Heng to look into it." Lu Zhanguo asked.
Gu Xiaobei was somewhat frustrated, "I didn’t react in time, and by the time I tried chasing, the car had already driven far away. I vaguely saw a ’61’, it was a red vehicle, didn’t notice anything else."
Lu Zhanguo held her tightly, patting her back saying," It’s alright. Let’s get Shen Heng to investigate first. The only concern is whether Xuerong has changed her name."
Gu Xiaobei sighed, "I’m afraid she doesn’t remember anything, even changed her name. I didn’t dare tell Aunt Jin today, afraid they would be happy for nothing."
"We’ll hold off for now. Let’s see what Shen Heng finds first; otherwise, if Jiujiu finds out, she’ll be upset."
Gu Xiaobei murmured bashfully, "Go easy on me."
"Just keep your voice down and don’t wake the kids," He whispered.
"You get up, ah..." Gu Xiaobei’s voice faltered. She quickly covered her mouth to stifle her giggles—waking the kids up would be unbearably embarrassing.
...
With the arrival of December, several bouts of heavy snow had fallen over the province. Ji Xiangdong and his group had also confirmed their return date—they would make it to the provincial city around the 15th of December.
In the wholesale market, a new store opened diagonally opposite Gu Xiaobei’s, and they also had a large stock of canned goods; the only difference was the brand.
Gu Xiaobei, nursing her warm teacup, leaned against the door frame, watching the bustling scene of the shop unloading canned goods across the street, with a touch of mockery at the corner of her mouth. As expected, it unfolded the way she anticipated.
Chen Zhao came and stood next to Gu Xiaobei, indignantly complaining, "This is infuriating, the store across the street has also so many canned goods in stock. They are blatantly trying to steal our customers."
Wang Wei was watching the opposing store unload goods; he ran back after a while and nervously informed, "Sister-in-law, I overheard their conversation. They are selling the canned goods cheaper than us."
Gu Xiaobei was all smiles, "Do not worry. Rest assured, we won’t have any leftover cans." Far from being worried, she ordered an additional ten thousand cans.
By now, Gu Xiaobei had realized that there was no mole among them. Instead, their competitors had been observing them from the shadows for a long time. They started their operations several days after the last delivery, which indicated that locating a source was quite tensome.
Frightened upon hearing Gu Xiaobei’s plans of ordering more cans, Chen Zhao warned, "Sister-in-law, our canned goods don’t have a price advantage. Adding another ten thousand cans—if they don’t sell—we’ll be ruined."
Still smiling, Gu Xiaobei responded, "Relax. You guys just focus on your work. This New Year’s Eve will be prosperous for sure."
Echoing Chen Zhao’s concerns, Wang Wei also fretted, "Sister-in-law, in business, we can’t let emotions rule."
"Don’t worry. When you went over, did you find out who the boss was?" Gu Xiaobei asked Wang Wei.
Wang Wei shook his head, "I saw a middle-aged man supervising the unloading, but I am unsure if that was the boss."
Gu Xiaobei entered the room with her tea mug, sitting next to the stove to warm up. No matter how high you set the stove, with the shop door wide open, the inside never sufficiently warmed up.
Stomping her feet, Qin Li stopped fiddling with the abacus at her desk for a moment and moved closer to the heater. Warming her hands, she commented, "Sister Xiaobei, I am wondering if another one of those bastards from the Price Control Commission is causing trouble."
Gu Xiaobei shook her head, "People like him definitely detest trading. However, I’m unsure if he involved his family. Nonetheless, whichever way they are approaching it, without utmost certainty, they wouldn’t dare order such large quantities.".
Qin Li shared her apprehensions, "Does this mean they’ll be stealing our sales in the future?"
Gu Xiaobei laughed, "You all don’t need to worry. Remember, what’s ours can’t be taken away, and what’s not, we shouldn’t fret over. And there’ll be more competition in the future, we just have to do our best."
Seeing Gu Xiaobei brimming with confidence, everyone felt relieved.
The next morning, the shop across the street set off a firecracker to celebrate opening their doors for business. They also piled up more than a dozen boxes of canned goods in front of their store and employed a lad to continually call out to customers.
All this while, Gu Xiaobei only stood across them, donning an amused smile. Wang Wei dashed again for a quick recon and returned, worried, "Sister-in-law, they’ve started selling their goods. They are selling each can for two cents cheaper than us. If we don’t start selling now, it’ll be too late."
Gu Xiaobei chuckled, "Why are you in a rush? Didn’t you notice there are many bystanders but few buyers?"
"But their products are cheaper. Once the people get the price quote, they won’t come to us next time. They’ll buy from them," Chen Zhao started to fret.
Gu Xiaobei reassured them with a laugh, "Get your rest these few days and eat well—you’ll have to pull all-nighters in the coming days."
