Buy a house with 30,000 yuan and live in a small town

It was difficult to respond to Gu Xuemei's words, so Yuan Lianyun did not say anything. She was the eldest sister-in-law, and no matter how good her relationship with the younger sister-in-law was, there were some things she could not say.

As Gu Xuelan's biological sister, she didn't have these concerns: "What about the past? It's not like I didn't persuade you back then. Did you get a divorce?"

"I did that for the child," Gu Xuemei said stubbornly.

Gu Xuelan didn't believe her: "Don't use Jingyu as an excuse. If you had just divorced her, Jingyu would have been able to get into a better university."

When this was mentioned, Gu Xuemei felt uncomfortable and felt sorry for her child.

The atmosphere suddenly changed, and Yuan Lianyun hurried to smooth things over: "Okay, it's all in the past. Jingyu is doing well now, Xuelan, please don't say anything. We came out to celebrate the holiday happily, so let's not talk about the past."

It wasn't that Gu Xuelan specifically chose this sentence to hurt her sister's heart. She really had heard Gu Xuemei say "regret" enough. Every time Gu Xuemei said "regret", Gu Xuelan would think of Liu Wangxue's cousin Song Jingyu, and become extremely angry.

Gu Xuemei did have the thought of divorce at the beginning, but the thought was very light.

Gu Xuemei and Song Ningwei also got married after a free love relationship. The main reason why she fell in love with Song Ningwei and insisted on marrying him was not love, but Song Ningwei's academic qualifications.

There are three children in the Gu family. The eldest, Gu Xuehui, has been very smart since he was young. Studying is as easy for him as eating and drinking. Almost one whole wall of his home is covered with his award certificates. Gu Xuehui went from elementary school to high school smoothly, and was admitted to a very good university in another province.

Gu Xuelan is the second child. Although she is not as good as Gu Xuehui in terms of study, she is serious and hardworking. With Gu Xuehui's after-school tutoring, she was admitted to university smoothly. However, she is different from Gu Xuehui in one aspect. She had already planned her life at that time. She studied in a normal school close to home, and after graduation, she worked closer to home as a teacher and lived a stable life.

The third child, Gu Xuemei, is different from her older brothers and sisters. She doesn’t like studying and going to school. In her own words, whenever she opens the textbook and sees the words on it, she either feels dizzy or has a headache.

Before she finished primary school, Gu Xuemei didn't want to continue studying and told her family: "My brother is a good student and my sister is willing to learn. Let them go. I won't go. I can help mom with the housework at home and save money for you. It's not easy for you to earn money working in the factory..."

Before he could finish his words, Liu Wangxue's grandfather beat him with a broom: "Go to school honestly, do I need your tuition?"

Liu Wangxue's grandfather worked in a textile factory in the town at that time and was a middle-level leader. Grandpa always believed: "My family is the same as other workers. We have no connections and no connections. How can I be promoted step by step? It's because I have a technical secondary school diploma!" From his own perspective, he believes that academic qualifications are very important, especially when the three children in the family grow up, it will be even more important, so he has always instilled in them the idea of ​​"study hard", and Gu Xuemei's remarks that she didn't want to go to school really annoyed him.

Gu Xuemei was forced to go to school, and she studied till junior high school. But she was not good at studying, and her grades were terrible. Gu Xuehui was too lazy to teach her, saying that her brain was made of elm knots and could not absorb any knowledge. For the first time in his life, he felt frustrated by Gu Xuemei. Gu Xuehui later said that when he filled in his college entrance examination application, he first excluded the teacher training category, which was largely due to this sister.

Gu Xuemei felt like she was going to the execution ground every day when she went to school. Finally, in the second semester of the second year of junior high school, she could not hold it back any longer and started to quarrel with her family again. The reason was that a girl from the same village came back. This family had some kind of relationship with the Gu family. The girl was a few years older than Gu Xuehui, but according to seniority, the three children of the Gu family had to call her "Auntie".

This aunt was also not fond of studying. She followed a few friends from society to work outside before she finished junior high school. I heard that she has been doing business in Fu City on the southeast coast for the past two years and has been doing very well. When she came back, it was close to the Dragon Boat Festival. The man who was said to be her boyfriend drove a car and took down a lot of gifts from the car. The villagers praised her for her success.

Gu Xuemei had a very good relationship with this aunt when she was a child, but they didn't have much contact after her aunt left. They did write a few letters. The aunt also sent her and Gu Xuelan some hairbands and pins for little girls, all of which were styles not available here. The two sisters wore them to school, which aroused the envy of others.

The next day after her aunt came back, she came to see Gu Xuemei and gave her and Gu Xuelan a dress that was fashionable in the south. Gu Xuemei just liked these beautiful things, and during the chat, she took the opportunity to ask her many questions, all about her business and whether it made money, and she was full of longing for the "outside world" she described.

So when they were quarreling at home, Gu Xuemei said that she wanted to go out with her aunt to do business. Liu Wangxue's grandparents would definitely not agree. Grandpa had already made up his mind and said that he would force Gu Xuemei to finish junior high school. If she couldn't pass the high school entrance exam, she could go to a technical secondary school. After graduation, he would help her find a job.

Who would have thought that Gu Xuemei secretly ran away with her aunt, and she still cared about her family and left a few words, writing down where she went and what she did. The family only found out after school the next evening - the three siblings went to school together in the morning. After school in the evening, Gu Xuelan and Gu Xuehui met Gu Xuemei's class teacher at the school gate and learned that she had not been to class all day. The siblings hurried back home and told Liu Wangxue's grandmother about the matter. At that time, Liu Wangxue's grandfather had not yet gotten off work. The mother and the two children went to Gu Xuemei's room and saw the note she left.

The next morning, Liu Wangxue's grandfather asked for leave from the factory and went to the south to bring Gu Xuemei back. When he came back from leave and packed his things and was about to leave for the train station, the home phone rang. It was Gu Xuemei calling back. She reported her location, briefly talked about her next plan, and asked not to look for her, because she wanted to do something big with her aunt.

Liu Wangxue's grandfather didn't make it in the end, because there was an emergency at the factory that day, and he was called back to deal with it. Later, Gu Xuemei called back every other day to report that she was safe. Liu Wangxue's grandparents gradually calmed down and sent her living expenses. As long as she was fine, they would let her do whatever she wanted.

But life outside was far from as good as Gu Xuemei had imagined. This aunt was not in big business and she didn't even have a shop. She was a street vendor and didn't sell a few fixed items. Her location was even more unstable. She might be here today and there tomorrow.

Auntie comforted Gu Xuemei: "I can't afford a shop here, and the rent is not cheap. Although setting up a street stall is tiring, there is no rent, no water, electricity, and no need to hire workers. This saves a lot of money, and you have been following me for several days. I have made a lot of money, right?"

Gu Xuemei thought that she had already made great ambitions, and she couldn't just run back home in disgrace because of such a small difficulty. Not only would she lose face, but she would definitely have to go back to school to continue being "tortured". So she just followed her aunt and persevered no matter how tired she was.

Two years passed like this, and my aunt and her boyfriend saved enough money to buy two large shops in the market and started a wholesale business. Gu Xuemei was definitely not as good as the two of them, and she was young. When she had money, she couldn't help but spend it, buying things for her family and never treating herself badly. Seeing that my aunt had opened a shop, she became anxious and never spent money recklessly again.

However, it is impossible for commodity prices to remain the same, especially housing prices. In order to save money as quickly as possible, Gu Xuemei changed the way she set up her stall. Her aunt knew some truck drivers, and there were also some close friends of her aunt's boyfriend. Gu Xuemei sometimes took their cars and brought goods from the south to the north to sell.

Gu Xuemei was only 19 years old when she saved enough money to buy a shop in the market like her aunt. That year, Gu Xuehui had not yet graduated from university, and Gu Xuelan was just a sophomore.

Many years later, Gu Xuemei's daughter Song Jingyu graduated from college. Gu Xuemei recalled the past and said, "The luck God gave me probably only went so far."

Song Jingyu said: "Mom, it's not that the luck God gave you only goes so far, but your clear self-awareness only goes so far."

Gu Xuemei agreed: "Yes, it is true."

When did the situation start to go bad? Gu Xuemei thought, it was when she wanted to buy the shop.

The shop that Gu Xuemei had her eyes on was not in the same wholesale market as her aunt's shop, but a newly opened shop at the other end of Fu City. The city was also under planning and construction at that time. The new wholesale market did have a greater geographical advantage than the old one. Even before it officially opened, it could already see a considerable flow of customers in the future. As you can imagine, the price would not be cheap. Gu Xuemei couldn't afford the one she had her eyes on. The money she had was just enough to buy a small shop in a decent location. After thinking about it, she decided to do so and wanted to expand it after she made money in the future. At this time, her friend Meixia came to her and told Gu Xuemei that she also wanted to buy a shop.

Meixia was someone Gu Xuemei met not long after she came with her aunt. She was one year older than her. They had helped each other a lot over the years and had a close relationship. However, she was eyeing a shop with a better location and a larger area in the new market. She didn't have enough money, so she asked Gu Xuemei if she was willing to do this business together. She also said that she had already discussed it with another friend, Shaoqin, who Gu Xuemei also knew and had a good relationship with.

The shop that Meixia mentioned was exactly the one that Gu Xuemei had liked before but could not afford. After hearing what she said, she was immediately moved and took action, and the three of them opened the shop together.

After the busiest period before the Spring Festival, almost all the shops in the wholesale market were closed, and the bosses all went home for the New Year. Gu Xuemei was no exception. On the third day of the New Year, she went to the bank to withdraw money, and suddenly found an extra payment in her account. She asked the counter staff to help check it out. The amount was transferred on the first day of the New Year, and it was marked as salary. She was extremely puzzled. After returning home, she found the phone book and called Meixia's home, but the line was busy. She called Shaoqin's home, but the line was still busy.

This afternoon, Gu Xuemei called them several times, but the lines were either busy or no one answered. She felt something was wrong and sat by the phone, answering every call, but none of them were from them.

It was past nine o'clock in the evening when the home phone rang again. Gu Xuemei picked up the phone as soon as it rang.

It was Meixia on the other end of the line. As soon as she answered, she cursed Shaoqin harshly in a crying dialect, and then said to Gu Xuemei: "We were all fooled by her!"

It turned out that Meixia also received a payment in the name of "salary". She found out about it yesterday and felt something was wrong, so she called Shaoqin.

Shaoqin is older than both her and Gu Xuemei. She graduated from a technical secondary school with a degree in accounting. She went into business because she needed money due to problems at home. She earns more than a fixed salary, so she is in charge of the store's accounts.

Shaoqin said: "I am the one who pays you your wages."

Meixia was puzzled. The shop was opened by the three of them as a partnership, and they usually ran it together. There was no such thing as who paid whom. "Are you kidding? Are you mistaken? How can this be a salary? This should be called a dividend. Didn't we agree to share it after the New Year? And Xuemei and I have seen the account. If there is a dividend, it must be more than this."

"You signed the contract in black and white yourself, don't you know?" Shaoqin asked Meixia, then hung up the phone.

Meixia thought, what contract? Their business only involved signing receipts and delivery notes, so when did they sign another contract... Oh, that's right, the contract they signed when they became a partnership!
Meixia's home was not far from Fu City, so she quickly bought a ticket for the nearest train and went back. She found the contract in the rental house and read it word by word from the beginning.

As the saying goes, you don't know until you see it. It was obviously a contract for opening a store together, but now it became a contract for her and Gu Xuemei to work for Shaoqin - there were hidden clauses and word games in it, and they didn't pay attention when they signed it.

When Gu Xuemei heard Meixia say this, she didn't believe it at all. When she rushed over and saw the contract with her own eyes, her heart sank as if it had sunk into an ice cellar: "Then what about the money we invested?" This was most of her savings, and Shaoqin had taken it all away.

Meixia was so angry that she almost tore up the contract: "Keep it all for herself? That's just wishful thinking! I won't let her continue to run this store even if it means my death!"

The two of them went to a lawyer for consultation, but the lawyer kept talking about this clause and that clause, and then based on this regulation and that regulation, which made the two of them confused, so they changed to another law firm. After running around for half a month, in the end, no matter where they went, they all came to the same conclusion: the legal route was not feasible.

When the two were discussing whether there were any other ways, Gu Xuemei received a call from home saying that her grandmother had accidentally fallen and was hospitalized, and asked if she could take a few days off to go back and take care of her.

Gu Xuehui cannot take a leave from work for the time being, Gu Xuelan has already started school, and Liu Wangxue's grandfather is also busy at the factory. Liu Wangxue's grandmother is the only one at home, and she really can't handle it.

After knowing this, Meixia asked Gu Xuemei to go home first: "Don't worry, I will find a way. I will make her return our money." She felt guilty towards Gu Xuemei and thought that if she had not brought Gu Xuemei in as a partner, Gu Xuemei would have followed her original idea and opened a small shop. She might not earn as much money as from a big store, but she would never encounter this bad thing.

Before leaving, Gu Xuemei told Meixia not to be impulsive and to call her if there was anything. They would discuss it and she would come back as soon as possible.

However, once Gu Xuemei returned, she could not leave. Her grandmother had a serious fall. She slipped on the ice when she got up to go to the toilet at night. She was in so much pain that she could not even cry out or get up. It was not until Liu Wangxue's grandmother got up at night that she found out. By then, more than half an hour had passed since she fell.

After lying in the hospital for ten days, the old man passed away, and then there was the funeral.

After the seventh day, Gu Xuemei received another call from Meixia, saying that the money had been returned and transferred into her account, and asked her to go to the bank to check.

Gu Xuemei was surprised and asked her how she got it back. They had tried to find Shaoqin, but Shaoqin refused to listen and kept talking about the contract. Gu Xuemei was worried that Meixia might have gotten into trouble by some crooked means.

Meixia didn't elaborate, she just told Gu Xuemei that she knew a big brother from Fuzhou, who helped her - Shaoqin was also from Fuzhou. Meixia didn't say anything more.

Meixia also said, "We don't want that store anymore, it's unlucky!" In fact, it was because Meixia had gone to the store to cause trouble, and the elder brother had also brought people there and caused some trouble. The reputation spread, and Shaoqin couldn't continue to run the store. The elder brother also used some tricks to force Shaoqin to sell the store.

Then Meixia told Gu Xuemei that she had found a shop somewhere else and planned to continue her wholesale business. She also asked Gu Xuemei if she planned to go there again. If she still planned to go there, she could come to her and she could help her with finding a shop.

Meixia did not mention the partnership again. People's hearts are fickle. It's not that she didn't trust Gu Xuemei, but Shaoqin taught her a too vivid lesson. She was afraid that in the face of interests, her friendship with Gu Xuemei would one day deteriorate.

Gu Xuemei did not give Meixia a definite answer: "I'll think about it."

Meixia thought she was in a bad mood because her relative had passed away, so she comforted her for a long time before hanging up the phone.

In fact, Gu Xuemei was hit hard, but this hit did not come from Shaoqin's incident, but from her family.

(End of this chapter)