Chapter 86: New Year

Bai Shuruo put down her phone and continued doing her design work.

Her sister had already registered the company name, calling it "Doudou New Energy Automobile Company"; the name was chosen primarily because it sounded friendly, as they were going for a cute brand image.

They also had an office location: a rented, nearly abandoned old factory building, only a little over 200 square meters, with a monthly rent of over three thousand.

Bai Shunan had people renovate the old factory, turning it into an industrial style; it wasn't exactly shabby.

Bai Shunan was going all out this time; although the New Year was almost here, she spent every day trying to find financing, recruiting staff, and scouting for talent.

This field required a design and R&D team, and after that, there would need to be production, quality control, and other departments, with sales and the like also needing to keep up.

Although Bai Shuruo was also worried about her sister, she couldn't help much, so the most important thing was to do her own design work well.

Besides, she still had to go to Beishi.

In the afternoon, Han Yangting told her that the flight had been booked for the 29th day of the lunar month, and told her to get ready.

Things were different from previous years; flying required taking a nucleic acid test in advance, another one before boarding the plane, and another one after getting off.

Thinking about meeting his family, Bai Shuruo started to feel nervous again.

She asked Han Yangting: 【Brother Han, do I need to buy any gifts to take to Beishi?】

Han Yangting: 【No need, just you coming is enough.】

Bai Shuruo: 【I can't go empty-handed, right?】

Han Yangting: 【My mom loves croissants and pearl milk tea with lots of pearls; just buy those two things.】

Bai Shuruo: 【It's the first time meeting, I can't just give those, right? How about I buy her a bag too? I have a classmate who does purchasing agent work. And Grandpa? Does he like drinking tea? Should I bring him some dried tangerine peel tea from Fengcheng?】

Han Yangting: 【Anything is fine.】

Bai Shuruo hurried to prepare.

However, the classmate who was a purchasing agent said that because it was the end of the year and due to the masks, they weren't doing that anymore.

Bai Shuruo had no choice but to go to the first floor of the mall and buy one, spending two thousand yuan; it pained her heart, but when dealing with a future mother-in-law, one must certainly be a bit generous.

After buying the bag, she went to pick out tea leaves.

Just then, she heard the tea shop owner complaining: "Why are there restrictions again? It's the New Year and they won't even let people move around. Being cooped up at home day after day, who can stand this?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Shuruo quickly opened WeChat to check the official account notifications.

Sure enough, restrictions were starting from the afternoon; wanting to go to Beishi was fine, but one had to quarantine for seven days after landing.

Seven days—the New Year would be over by then; what would be the point of going?

Bai Shuruo hurriedly sent the notification to Han Yangting to discuss it with him: 【Brother Han, how about I don't go? If I go, I have to quarantine for seven days, and it would also burden you all.】

During this period, no family wanted to host relatives from out of town for fear of being implicated.

Han Yangting replied to her: 【Then forget it; spending the New Year alone in a hotel is too agonizing.】

Bai Shuruo: 【I bought... a bag for your mom, and dried tangerine peel tea for Grandpa. Give me the address and I'll mail them over.】

Han Yangting sent her the address shortly after.

Bai Shuruo glanced at the address: Chaoyang District, a certain road, a certain house number.

It wasn't even a large residential complex, let alone a villa area. It was just a very ordinary address, probably some kind of courtyard house.

She hurried to mail the package.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Ye Caiyue in Beishi received the package.

Ye Caiyue unwrapped it and saw a handbag, which was likely bought for around two thousand yuan.

Ye Caiyue usually wore bags that cost at least twenty thousand.

She couldn't help but look at Han Yangting, who was to the side: "I heard you like to pretend to be poor in Fengcheng? Have you never given Ruoruo any money to spend?"

"She doesn't want it, saying she wants to walk the path of an independent woman, earning her own money to spend. And it's not that I want to pretend to be poor; it's that she thinks I'm very poor."

Han Yangting also glanced at the bag and added: "But Mom, you have to be content. Her monthly salary is 6,000 yuan, and she still has to pay off student loans; it's equivalent to her using half her net worth to buy you a bag. I don't even get that kind of treatment; if you don't want it, you can give it to me."

"Why would I give it to you? A lady's handbag given to me by my daughter-in-law—no matter how cheap it is, I have to carry it." Ye Caiyue was better at handling social situations.

Han Yangting then complimented her: "Mom, you have a great temperament; you can carry a two-thousand-yuan bag with the flair of a twenty-thousand-yuan one."

"You have a sweet tongue, but there really isn't that much difference between a two-thousand-yuan bag and a twenty-thousand-yuan one."

If you compare a 20-yuan bag with a 2,000-yuan bag, then you definitely get what you pay for, and it's obvious which is better and which is worse, but the difference between a two-thousand and a twenty-thousand-yuan bag isn't that great.

In front of Han Yangting sat a laptop; he was looking at information about new energy automobiles.

Baiyin Group also had an automotive industry under it, but it was a traditional sector.

After watching for a while, he called Ali: "Ali, go and look into Bai Shunan's company."

In the blink of an eye, the New Year arrived.

Bai Shuruo had only bought some candies and melon seeds on the 28th, and also bought frozen steamed buns and dumplings at the supermarket, planning to eat those during the New Year.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, Lin Wanfen called and asked her to come back to the old family home for a meal, saying that Bai Shunan would also be there, so she agreed.

She returned to the old home early.

The people who had rented rooms in the house had all gone home, and there were still only the four of them in the residence.

The house had been cleaned the day before, and in the kitchen were Lin Wanfen and Bai Shuhua; Lin Wanfen wouldn't let Bai Shuruo help, saying that since she was already married, how could there be any reason for her to help when returning to her maiden home?

Bored, Bai Shuruo wandered around the neighborhood.

Twenty years ago, this had been an affluent area; those with the means had mostly moved away, while some who had fallen on hard times hadn't moved, and others had sold their homes as school-district housing because they thought the buildings were old, so this area was actually livelier than before.

Today was New Year's Eve, and many people had returned for reunions; every household had posted couplets and red paper, hung lanterns, and lit incense at their doorways.

In recent years, fireworks and firecrackers had been strictly prohibited, otherwise this area would be even livelier.

After wandering for a while, Bai Shuruo felt it was meaningless, so she started walking back.

As it turned out, a young man riding an electric scooter in front suddenly stopped and called out to her: "Isn't this Bai Shuruo?"

Bai Shuruo looked at him in bewilderment: "You are..."

"Your junior high classmate, Wang Hu, don't you remember me?" The boy took off his helmet.

Wang Hu had a fair and clean appearance, and he indeed looked to be the same age as Bai Shuruo.

"I moved away when I was in the third year of junior high, and I came back to visit my grandfather."

Bai Shuruo let out an "oh," as she really could not recall such a person.

Wang Hu added: "How is your family doing now? I heard back then that something happened to your family, and now... are you doing alright?"

"I'm doing quite well," Bai Shuruo said politely.

Although she did not remember him, being polite was always the right thing to do.

Moreover, boys changed a lot after junior high, so she felt it was normal that she did not remember him.

Wang Hu added again: "Right, our junior high classmates also set up a WeChat group, would you like to join?"