Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Setting Up the Villas, Shop, Shop, Shop

Gu Qinghuan saw how emotional she was, but couldn’t quite figure out why.

“Don’t get so worked up. These things really aren’t worth much.” Everything had come from her space; it just took a bit of effort to bring them over.

Wang Xiaowei wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “Thank you, sis. I don’t even know what to say. Did you come over for something? Is the lease up?”

Gu Qinghuan slapped her forehead—she’d almost forgotten the main reason she came.

“There’s still about half a month left on the lease, so you can keep living there. Actually, I came because I have a job and wanted to ask if you’d be interested. No pressure—if you don’t want to, just tell me directly.”

Wang Xiaowei hadn’t expected that, after all this time, Gu Qinghuan would bring her such good news. But, remembering Gu Qinghuan’s warning, she asked cautiously, “Sis, can I ask what kind of job it is?”

“My family has two villas. They were occupied by others before, but I just got them back. I need someone to give them a thorough cleaning, so there’s no dirt or grime left and they’re comfortable to live in. That’s why I thought of you. It’s not an easy job. If you take care of everything, I’ll pay you four yuan as a labor fee. But since you have a child with you, if you don’t want to do it, just say so. It’s really fine.”

Gu Qinghuan, thinking like a modern person, felt this was actually a pretty tiring and troublesome job.

But to Wang Xiaowei, this was like a pie falling from the sky.

Just cleaning up a bit and putting in some effort could earn her three yuan—enough to make two sets of winter clothes for her child. Kids’ clothes didn’t take much fabric or cotton.

“Sis, I’d love to do it!” Wang Xiaowei agreed eagerly.

She quickly added, “Thank you for giving me this chance and not minding that I have a child with me. I promise I’ll clean everything spotless—there won’t be a speck of dust left.”

Seeing how happy Wang Xiaowei was to accept, Gu Qinghuan was pleased too—one problem solved.

“Great! If you’re free, why don’t you come with me today to take a look?”

Wang Xiaowei, with her child and some food for the road, set off with Gu Qinghuan.

She’d been in Beijing for a while, but this was her first time out exploring. Usually, she stayed close to Mao’er Hutong and didn’t dare go far.

Gu Qinghuan took her to the area where the two villas were located.

Looking at the two beautiful houses, Wang Xiaowei was visibly shocked—her mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.

She knew Gu Qinghuan was well-off, but she hadn’t realized she was this rich. To own two houses like this in Beijing—her family must be extremely wealthy!

Thinking of all the help Gu Qinghuan had given her, Wang Xiaowei was deeply moved and resolved to do a good job and hold tight to this golden opportunity.

Gu Qinghuan had already prepared cleaning supplies and told her she could let the child nap in a first-floor room while she worked. There were also some leftover groceries in the kitchen from the previous occupants, which Wang Xiaowei could use as she liked.

After explaining everything Wang Xiaowei needed to know about the house, Gu Qinghuan left.

She had shopping to do over the next few days and couldn’t keep an eye on things here all the time.

Wang Xiaowei wasn’t the type to repay kindness with betrayal, and Gu Qinghuan was willing to trust her character.

And that trust proved well-placed. About three days later, the interiors of both villas were spotless, everything that needed cleaning was cleaned, and the houses looked almost brand new.

Gu Qinghuan happily paid Wang Xiaowei.

Wang Xiaowei held the four yuan she’d earned through hard work, feeling a mix of emotions.

During those three days, Gu Qinghuan had also hired carpenters to custom-make some furniture she wanted: wardrobes, nightstands, chests of drawers, dining tables, and more.

She also measured the windows herself and ordered a batch of curtains from the automatic vending machine.

There was an art to buying curtains—the living room, dining room, and bedrooms all needed different patterns, and each person’s bedroom had its own style.

For the two kids’ rooms, she had two small beds made so they could sleep together for comfort, and picked out pink-and-blue linen curtains to suit both children’s tastes.

This time, she’d hired skilled craftsmen—not like in the village, where you had to make do.

Previously, the two villas only had basic sofas and beds—there wasn’t even a dining table. Aunt Wu had managed to find an old wooden table from somewhere, but it was barely usable.

The houses were livable, but a lot of things were still missing. Most likely, Zhong Zijun hadn’t had time to furnish them before being sent down.

Now that she finally had the chance to live in a big villa in the 1970s, Gu Qinghuan was determined to set it up properly.

With all the big items ordered and the craftsmen promising delivery in half a month, the curtains she’d ordered were also ready—just needed to be installed.

There were so many curtains for the two houses that they filled an entire living room, all in different patterns and colors.

Xu Huaian had helped Gu Qinghuan place all the orders and knew exactly how she wanted each room set up.

It was the weekend, and Gu Lanting happened to be home from school, so Gu Qinghuan roped her and her brother-in-law into helping install the curtains.

Installing them wasn’t hard, just repetitive since there were so many rooms.

As for herself, she took the two kids and Ming Ruxue out shopping.

Sure enough, Ming Ruxue had plenty of foreign exchange certificates and ration coupons, so the two of them, with Dabao and Beibei, were ready for a shopping spree.

Their first stop was the Friendship Store.

At this time, the Friendship Store was a state-run shop that originally only served foreigners, diplomats, and government officials. But now, as long as you had foreign exchange certificates, you could go in and shop to your heart’s content.

The store was truly dazzling—not just ordinary goods, but also many luxury items most people couldn’t afford.

There were all sorts of trendy “hot items”: Meilin canned goods from Shanghai, Xishilin pastries from Tianjin, double-sided embroidery from Suzhou, brocade from Hangzhou, Snow Lotus cashmere sweaters from Beijing, bicycles, watches, and more.

They also sold imported appliances, whiskey, Marlboros, and other international brands.

There was Coca-Cola, English books, Toshiba TVs from Japan, and special export-only items.

People always judge by appearances first, so Gu Qinghuan had dressed up nicely today to avoid any awkward misunderstandings. She had everyday clothes from the modern era in her space villa, which came in handy.

She wore the white cashmere coat she’d worn to a wedding before, with a black turtleneck sweater underneath, black skinny pants, and tall boots.

The two kids were also dressed in clothes Gu Qinghuan had bought earlier. They’d both put on some weight recently and filled out the outfits nicely—they looked adorable.

Ming Ruxue even complimented her cashmere coat.

Of course, it was a classic style from the future.

With Ming Ruxue’s foreign exchange certificates and US dollars, the four of them had no trouble shopping at the Friendship Store, and the staff treated them politely.

They browsed the whole store first, then decided what to buy.

Ming Ruxue fell in love with a piece of double-sided Suzhou embroidery and couldn’t put it down. She planned to take it home and hang it above her bed to admire every day. The price—dozens of yuan—was nothing to her.

Gu Qinghuan liked it too, but only as a decoration. She preferred practical things.

For example, she’d never tasted Meilin luncheon meat from the 1970s—was it any good? She bought a few cans to try.

The pastries looked nice, so she bought some to sample.

The Snow Lotus cashmere sweaters felt great—she bought one for everyone in the family. They’d be warm for winter, and it was genuine cashmere. Expensive, but worth it.

The two kids were easy to please—one bottle of Coca-Cola each, and they were happy.

After a round of shopping, they stopped at the watch counter.

The sales clerk, noticing their stylish clothes, greeted them with a big smile.

“Hello, what kind of watches would you like to see? Men’s or women’s?”

Gu Qinghuan herself wasn’t used to wearing anything on her wrist, so she didn’t need one.

But she thought Lanting and Xu Huaian could use watches to tell the time. She could have bought replicas from the vending machine for cheaper, but since she had the chance to buy genuine ones, she wanted to get them the real thing—after all, craftsmanship matters with watches.

So she asked, “Do you have any recommendations for men’s watches?”

The clerk’s smile grew even brighter.

“You’ve come at just the right time. We’ve just received a new Omega 18k gold watch. It’s about $1,000 USD. Would you like to see it?”

Maybe the clerk thought they were rich, so she started with the most expensive option.

Gu Qinghuan had thought she was doing pretty well financially lately, but she hadn’t expected a single watch could wipe out half her savings.

She quickly shook her head. “Do you have something more affordable? I’d like to buy two of the same model.”

Ming Ruxue had been ready to pay, having brought enough US dollars, but when she heard Gu Qinghuan’s request, she put her wallet away.

Respecting others’ choices is a basic rule of being a decent person.

The clerk wasn’t offended and pointed to several watches in the display case. “Take a look—these are Titoni, Enicar, and Daroama, all popular Swiss brands and reasonably priced.”

After some consideration, Gu Qinghuan picked out two Titoni watches at 321 yuan each—there went 642 yuan.

But she was happy with her purchase—it was worth it for the emotional value.

While the clerk went to get the new watches, the two of them sat on a nearby sofa to wait.

While they waited, a group of middle-aged women came over, chatting and laughing, to look at watches too.

“Mrs. Xu, why haven’t we seen your daughter-in-law lately?”

“Oh, her? That ungrateful thing—I’ve made her stay home and reflect on her behavior.” The woman called Mrs. Xu replied smugly.

“That’s how it should be! I always said you were too soft before, letting your daughter-in-law walk all over you. We mothers-in-law have to keep our daughters-in-law in line, or there’ll be no peace at home,” a plump woman chimed in.

The others agreed, “Exactly, exactly.”

Then they turned to look at the watches.

Gu Qinghuan hadn’t paid much attention at first, just thinking these housewives were ridiculous—taking pleasure in bossing around their daughters-in-law. Disgusting.

But then, as Mrs. Xu turned around, Gu Qinghuan was stunned.

Isn’t that… Cousin Luo Ning’s mother-in-law?"