booktalesy Chapter 730: Let's go to the store and take a look.
Chapter 730: Let's go to the store and take a look.
Cheng Ling, the youngest daughter of the Cheng family, officially started dating Ban Pei before the Spring Festival. Ban Pei, who was already on winter vacation, did not return to Changzhou immediately. Like other couples in love, they enjoyed the sweetness of their relationship and wished they could be together every day. It wasn't until the day before Lunar New Year's Eve that Ban Pei reluctantly said goodbye to Cheng Ling at the train station and went home.
When Cheng Ling returned home, she happened to meet her fourth sister, Cheng Jing, who was delivering things to her parents' home. Upon seeing her, Cheng Jing naturally questioned her.
"Hey! How many times have I told you to bring that person back? Why haven't you brought them back to show me yet?"
Cheng Ling hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's only been a few days!"
Cheng Jing joked, "As the saying goes, a prospective son-in-law will have to meet his mother-in-law sooner or later. What are you afraid of? Are you afraid your parents will eat him?"
Cheng's mother, who had been listening to the two sisters' conversation, said angrily, "Those who know her know that she's in a relationship. If you didn't know, you'd think she was a secret agent, always acting suspiciously."
Now, Cheng's mother only has her youngest daughter as her last worry. In her and Cheng's father's view, once their youngest daughter gets married, they will have fulfilled their responsibilities. Besides, their prospective son-in-law, Ban Pei, is quite outstanding in every way. Therefore, Cheng's mother wants to get the wedding done as soon as possible, which will also put their last worry to rest.
Unfortunately, her youngest daughter's love life is just indescribable. At first, she ignored him, and after finally starting a relationship, she was in no hurry or excitement, which made Cheng's mother very anxious!
Hearing her mother complain, Cheng Ling retorted confidently, "I should at least get to know him better, right? I can't just marry anyone without thinking, can I? This is a matter that affects my whole life!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother immediately became furious: "Understand? Help me out, okay? Do you think your parents and your older brothers and sisters are just sitting around doing nothing? Your fourth sister already asked her brother-in-law to inquire about Xiao Ban's situation and knows everything about him. Otherwise, would we be so comfortable letting you date Xiao Ban?"
Seeing that her youngest daughter still seemed unfazed, Cheng's mother patiently and earnestly advised, "You're not getting any younger. Whether you get married early or late, you'll eventually have to get married. Getting married early has many advantages, you should know that, just look at your older brothers and sisters!"
Cheng Jing chimed in, "Mom's right." Then she nudged Cheng Ling and offered the timeline: "Bring the person back on the fifteenth of the first lunar month, understand?"
Cheng Ling remained silent, which immediately angered Cheng's mother. Just as she was about to lose her temper, Cheng Jing quickly pushed her younger sister again, and Cheng Ling reluctantly nodded.
Cheng Jing quickly pressed her advantage, saying, "Then it's settled. You'll bring Xiao Ban back on the fifteenth of the first lunar month!"
When Cheng Jing returned home, Huang Erhe was just coming back from outside with Mi Guo and Mao Wa. The three of them had bought a lot of fireworks. Mi Guo's little face was red from the cold. As soon as she saw Cheng Jing, she excitedly ran up to her and showed off the fireworks in her hand, saying, "Mom, Dad bought these for me. My brother said he'll take me to set them off in the yard later."
Of the two children, Miguo changed her address the fastest, perhaps because she was young, or perhaps because she longed to have a father like other children. After Chengjing married Huang Erhe, Miguo naturally started calling Huang Erhe "Dad".
Maowa, however, did not do that; he addressed Chengjing as "Auntie" from beginning to end!
Cheng Jing didn't mind too much about it. After all, after she married Huang Erhe, she learned about Maowa's mother's situation and felt very sorry for Maowa.
Cheng Jing smiled and patted Mi Guo's head, reminding her, "Have fun with your brother, and be careful! Listen to your brother!"
Then he added a reminder to the little guy: "Little guy! You need to be careful too, okay?"
Maowa nodded: "Auntie, I know, don't worry!"
As Huang Erhe walked into the house, he asked Cheng Jing, "Have all the things been delivered?"
Cheng Jing nodded: "I delivered it. Cheng Ling just came back, and I said a few words to her!"
When Huang Erhe heard his wife mention her younger sister, he smiled and asked, "How are Cheng Ling and Xiao Ban getting along?"
When Huang Erhe asked about this, Cheng Jing replied helplessly, "My mom urged her to hurry up and bring Xiao Ban home. If there's nothing wrong, the two families can meet and get married as soon as possible. Besides, Xiao Ban is getting on in years; he'll be thirty in another year or two. But Cheng Ling thinks it's too fast, which angered my mom. I just stepped in to smooth things over."
Huang Xiaochuan listened with great interest, but seeing that Cheng Jing stopped there, he pressed on, asking, "What happened next?"
"Later, I suggested that Chengling bring Xiaoban back to meet my parents on the Lantern Festival (January 15th of the lunar calendar), and thankfully, Chengling finally agreed." She then added, "You should also go and meet her then!"
Huang Erhe couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, recalling the scene when he first visited Chengjia: "When that little boy sees your whole family, he'll definitely be shocked!"
Upon hearing Huang Erhe's words, Cheng Jing couldn't help but laugh, and playfully patted him lightly, saying, "You talk too much!"
The period before the Lunar New Year is the busiest time for all stores of the Times Commercial Group. The number of customers in each store is increasing every day, and some stores even have to arrange a large number of security personnel to manage and divert the flow of people.
There is a Times Super Shopping Center store near Huang Xiaochuan's home, so he planned to go there to see what measures the store had taken to cope with the large customer flow during the Spring Festival, and what the store's current operation was.
Overall, Huang Xiaochuan was quite satisfied after making a round of visits. The store had clearly prepared a plan in advance for guiding and dispersing customers. Although the number of customers was huge, everything was in good order. In particular, the checkout speed was very fast. In addition to the original fifty manual checkout counters, the store added twenty mobile checkout counters and also recruited a large number of part-time workers during the winter vacation to assist with checkout. The cashiers were responsible for collecting payments, and the part-time workers were responsible for helping customers pack their orders.
After checking out, customers were guided by security to the fast lane to leave the supermarket, and everything was very orderly.
Huang Xiaochuan also saw the store manager personally overseeing things at the control panel, constantly using the walkie-talkie to direct and coordinate. Some problems were resolved on the spot. Huang Xiaochuan originally wanted to chat with him, but seeing how busy the store manager was, he gave up the idea.
However, he made a phone call to Jiang Bixing.