The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

The arrival of Jiang Liwan and his wife eased Huanhuan's recent anxiety. Even Xu Qu noticed this and asked her during breakfast: "Xuanhuan, you seem to be in a good mood. Is things going well in the shop recently?"

He shook his head slowly and said, "There is no big change in the store, but Li Wan's arrival gave me some insights."

"Oh?" Xu Qu raised his eyebrows and said, "What insights do you have?"

Huanhuan said seriously, "I used to think that if the problem cannot be solved, it is ridiculous to tell others about the hardship, because it is useless. Now I think we all need friends, people who listen. Even if they can't help you solve the problem, they can let you unload the burden on your mind through talking, so that you can go into the future with ease and become a stronger person."

After hearing this, Xu Qu stopped what he was doing and stared at Huanhuan in silence.

Seeing that he seemed to be hesitant to speak, she asked softly, "What are you thinking about? What do you want to say?"

Xu Qu looked away, stared at the table, and asked in a low voice: "Really, is this true?" The tone was as if he was asking himself.

Huanhuan immediately patted his chest and replied with a guarantee: "That's it."

Xu Qu looked at her slowly for a while, and finally said, "Actually, I've always wanted to..."

At this time, Youcheng suddenly knocked on the door and rushed in. He hurriedly ran to Xu Qu and Huanhuan and said to them, "Sir, Daping just reported that Madam asked you and the young mistress to attend today's sharing meeting."

Xu Qu was very dissatisfied with being interrupted, and said angrily, "What's the big deal? Is it worth making such a fuss?"

You Chengdao: "Daping specifically emphasized that I should tell you that this was suggested by my great aunt."

This was indeed unusual, and Xu Qu and Huan Huan couldn't help but look at each other. Then Xu Qu asked, "Did he say anything else?"

You Chengdao said, "As soon as I heard about it, I rushed to report it. I didn't have time to listen to what he said, but I didn't let him go. How about letting him talk about it?"

Xu Qu said, "Let him in quickly." So Cheng quickly brought Daping in.

After Da Ping came in, he bowed to Xu Quhe with both hands, and then urged Cheng: "Da Ping, quickly tell the young master and the young lady the details of the situation."

Daping then said, "This morning, the eldest aunt came to Madam and said that the young lady was already the owner of the shop under the name of the Xu family, and should also attend the preview party. Madam originally said that the rouge shop was only a small business and had just opened, so it was not necessary. The eldest aunt said that the young master had an ear disease and always needed a strong assistant, and it was very necessary for the young lady to know as much as possible about the Xu family's business. She also said, uh, she also said that Madam didn't want to let her go for some other reason. So Madam had to agree, and then asked me to inform the young master and the young lady."

After Daping finished speaking, Xu Qu said, "Okay, we got it. You should go back and report to the lady first." After letting him go, Daping and Chengyi went out and slowly asked Xu Qu, "What is the Shuxiang meeting?"

Xu Qu replied, "It is a regular meeting held by the Xu family every month. It mainly gathers the shopkeepers of all the major businesses of the Xu family to talk about their revenue and discuss some problems they encounter."

Huanhuan said with some worry: "Shishi Yanzhi's business has always been disappointing. If it is compared with the Xu family's big businesses at the meeting, I'm afraid it will pale in comparison."

Xu Qu frowned and sighed with some regret: "I originally wanted to use my own money to open a rouge shop for you. My second uncle and mother said that the Xu family is so big that they can still support such a small shop. I didn't want to lose their kindness, so I ended up using the family's public property. I didn't expect that I would need to go to the meeting. It seems that I didn't think it through."

Huanhuan comforted him instead, "Since you are here, you should make the best of it. I also want to learn from you big shopkeepers. This is a rare opportunity, it's good."

Just like that, after breakfast, Xu Qu brought Huanhuan to the northwest corner of Jingyuan. Huanhuan used to come to Jingyuan to pay respects, and her route was always from the gate to the main house, and she had never been to this place. It was only during this meeting that she learned that there was a room here that was almost the same size as the main house and could be called a hall.

At this time, the door was wide open, and the pillars and furnishings inside could be seen. The layout of the house was the same as the main hall where he usually greeted Mrs. Xie. There were two main seats facing the main door against the north wall, and guest seats on both sides of the main seats.

The difference is that the guest seats are not facing east and west, but facing the main seats, facing north; and there are not two rows, but four rows of seats.

There are probably many shopkeepers who want to attend. Thinking of this, Huan-huan tugged at Xu Qu's sleeve and asked, "Are there so many shopkeepers who want to attend?"

Xu Qu said: "I only came here once last month. From what I observed, although it is not completely full, it is not far from being full."

Huanhuan couldn't help but get nervous after hearing this. Xu Qu seemed to have guessed it and said to Huanhuan, "I'll sit behind the desk next to the main seat. You can just sit next to me. Don't be afraid."

Huanhuan then noticed that there was a table not far from the main seat, and a chair behind it. The location was probably set here so as not to take away the prestige of the main seat, but also to highlight Xu Qu's status, and also to make it convenient for Xu Qu to watch the shopkeepers talking, which was not careless.

Xu Qu ordered someone to add a chair behind the table, and slowly sat them down side by side, and then they waited quietly.

Soon, the shopkeepers came in one after another. They were naturally very familiar with each other, and after greeting each other, they couldn't help but say some polite words.

"Manager Gu, I heard that your inn has been full of guests every day recently, and business is booming!"

"No, no, no one can compare to Shopkeeper Hu's good management. I heard that you have expanded your workshop recently. Congratulations!"

……

According to Huan Huan's observation, those shopkeepers who hold their breath and keep a low profile probably have unsatisfactory business. In such an atmosphere, the monthly competition really puts a lot of pressure on the shopkeepers. The small shopkeepers hope to expand their business and be qualified to attend the sharing meeting; the big shopkeepers learn experience or lessons from the sharing meeting, and will compare their business results to stimulate their fighting spirit in disguise. I don't know which predecessor established the rules of the Xu family's sharing meeting, which is really a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Then came Mrs. Xie and my aunt. Mrs. Xie made a polite gesture to my aunt in front of the main seat: "Sister, you should sit here."

The eldest aunt was also polite, saying, "No need, didn't I say last time that I'm just here to listen, you guys just follow your previous routine." Then she sat down in the first row of the guest seats. So Mrs. Xie didn't say anything and sat down on the left side of the main seat.

Huanhuan was very curious. There was clearly another seat in the main hall, so why didn't the aunt sit there?

Everyone sat down for a while, and the eldest aunt said, "Since Xu Si is not coming, let's not wait any longer."

Mrs. Xie hesitated and said, "His second uncle is never late. This time he must have been delayed by something urgent. Let's wait for him."

As soon as he finished speaking, his second uncle came in hurriedly and sat down on the main seat on the right. Huanhuan thought, that was his second uncle's seat. But Huanhuan seemed to see a trace of sadness on his hurried second uncle's face.

Finally, the sharing meeting started under the chairmanship of my second uncle. I listened carefully to the stories of the shopkeepers without moving. The more I listened, the more interesting it became. So I simply picked up the pen on the table and wrote down some things I thought were useful on paper.

Before they knew it, the shopkeepers had finished their stories. Mrs. Xie said, "In that case, we'll go today..."

"Wait a minute!" Mrs. Xie was interrupted by her aunt before she could finish her words. She suddenly had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, my aunt said, "Hasn't the newly opened Shishi Rouge been mentioned yet?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Xu Qu and Huan Huan. Huan Huan immediately became nervous and sat up straight. Xu Qu couldn't see everything by reading the mouth shape after all. He kept his usual expressionless face, but his eyes showed that he didn't seem to know what was going on.

"This..." Madam Xie looked at Xu Qu and Huanhuan and said hesitantly, "It's not necessary to talk about such a small shop. Besides, we didn't inform them in advance. I don't know if Huanhuan and Qu'er are ready."

"After all this trouble and preparation, it turns out to be just a small, low-end shop." There was a hint of disdain in the aunt's sarcastic laugh.

Huanhuan now understood that her aunt had brought her to the forum just to destroy her prestige in front of all the big shopkeepers. And then? To make her give up and make way for others?

Huanhuan was not the type to sit there and wait for others to succeed. So he stood up and said, "No problem, mother. I'll tell you."