Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

The landlord kept the key to the next room, only giving it to Lin Xiuhe until noon the next day.

"Someone else asked about it this afternoon. If you don't want it, I'll rent it to someone else."

He Qiuyan had already stood at the door next door and looked around.

The room was twice the size of Xinghe's current room. The windows faced south, and there was still a row of old wooden shelves along the wall. Although the table inside had some paint chips off, it could still be used after being wiped clean.

The first thing she asked me when she came out wasn't whether I liked it or not.

"How much?"

The landlord quoted the rent.

He Qiuyan's brows immediately furrowed.

"So much more expensive than this one?"

"It's a large place."

"A large place can't fill an empty stomach."

The landlord was amused by her.

"Which of you two is renting it?"

He Qiuyan moved aside to stand next to Lin Xiuhe.

"She pays the bill, and I'm the one who feels bad about it."

Lin Xiuhe also smiled.

The final payment for the 400 sets of goods was just received yesterday. The costs for materials, processing, and female workers have all been settled, and Xinghe finally has some money that he can use as he sees fit.

But once you rent the place next door, you'll have to pay an extra rent every month.

The room is indeed cramped now, and she wants to wait another day to see if it's so cramped that it absolutely has to be expanded.

I will reply to you before noon.

The landlord nodded.

"Okay, but if someone has already made a reservation, I can't keep it for you forever."

The next morning, He Qiuyan arrived earlier than Lin Xiuhe as usual.

She thought the two of them could at least discuss it slowly, but as soon as the door opened, the first tricycle entered the yard.

The thirty trial products agreed upon yesterday have been partially completed. The street factory delivered twelve of them first, and Lin Xiuhe will take them to show the client this afternoon.

After the boxes were moved into the operations department, the already cramped space was immediately reduced by half.

He Qiuyan moved her chair towards the wall.

"You can still sit."

Less than twenty minutes later, Director Luo delivered two more samples of clothes racks from Ningzhou Cotton Mill.

The deliveryman carried the shelf into the door and stood at the door for a long time, looking for a place to stand.

He Qiuyan silently moved out another chair.

Lin Xiuhe looked at her.

"Why didn't you say it was also possible to sit on?"

"able."

He Qiuyan retorted stubbornly, "Standing counts too."

The two of them had just finished collecting the samples when the customer who had arranged to come and see the trial products yesterday arrived.

There were three people in total.

There simply aren't enough chairs left in the operations department.

When the older woman entered, she first stepped aside to avoid the boxes on the ground. The middle-aged man behind her had just stepped over a folding rack when his trouser leg bumped into a cardboard box next to him.

"Was this place always this crowded?"

"We've had a bit more stock lately."

Lin Xiuhe gave up her chair.

Customers want to see three samples at the same time, but there isn't even enough space in the room to display them all together. They can only look at one and put it away before moving on to the next.

After trying twice, the middle-aged man finally asked, "Do you have a place to store your goods?"

"Not at the moment."

"What if there's even more later?"

The 30 sample units are just a small batch; the remaining 120 units from Ningzhou will be shipped out gradually, and the 320 lunchbox baskets will also be produced. The processing plant can ship some directly, but there needs to be a place to store the samples delivered temporarily, the goods awaiting inspection, and the used parts brought by customers.

After the guests left, the gatekeeper came over and gave them a reminder.

"Comrade Lin, several people walked around those two shelves outside this morning. Since everyone uses the yard, try to bring more goods inside if you have too much stock."

Lin Xiuhe agreed and moved inside with He Qiuyan.

The first shelf barely fit.

As soon as the second one was pushed through the door, the door panel was blocked by the cardboard box, leaving only half of it openable.

He Qiuyan stood outside staring at the crack in the door, and finally smiled.

"OK."

"There's no way to save on this rent."

At 11:30, Lin Xiuhe went to find the landlord.

She didn't rush to raise the price just because the landlord said there were other inquiries. She only asked, "If we rent both rooms together, can the rent be recalculated?"

The landlord thought about it.

"You've been having a great time renting your old place. If you take both, I'll give you a discount, but you'll have to pay three months' rent upfront."

Lin Xiuhe stated the number she could accept.

The landlord added some back.

The two exchanged a few words and finally settled on a point that was acceptable to both of them.

The keys were handed to her, and three months' rent was paid along with them. The profit that had been saved yesterday was quickly dwindling.

He Qiuyan stood to the side, watching with amusement.

"Yesterday I thought you finally had money."

"Not available again today?"

"Not yet."

He Qiuyan took the other key, saying, "It's just that seeing you spend money makes me feel more distressed than if I spent it myself."

She opened the door next door before Lin Xiuhe did.

After the window was opened, the afternoon sunlight streamed in.

The two people cleaned the old wooden frame and then separated the samples, goods awaiting inspection, and trial products to be sent to customers. The room was finally cleared out, and people could sit at the table normally. They no longer had to walk around the boxes and shelves to enter.

The gatekeeper came over with a teacup to watch the commotion.

"There was one room yesterday, but there are two today."

He Qiuyan didn't even look up.

"Don't flatter me."

"She's easily tempted to keep spending money when she hears nice things."

Lin Xiuhe grabbed a rag and threw it at her.

He Qiuyan smiled and dodged away.

When Zhou Zhiyuan came over in the evening, there were still two boxes left to move in the yard.

He paused for a moment at the door, carrying a lunchbox in his hand.

"Did they expand the area?"

"Just took it off."

"You didn't mention it yesterday."

I didn't decide yesterday either.

Zhou Zhiyuan put the lunchbox on the table in the new house and bent down to pick up the heaviest cardboard box by the door.

Lin Xiuhe followed her inside.

Aren't you going to ask me how much the rent is?

"It's already rented, why are you asking?"

"What if the rent is too high?"

Zhou Zhiyuan placed the box under the wooden frame.

"Then I'll earn a little more next month."

He Qiuyan, carrying a stack of samples, walked in just then and burst out laughing upon hearing this.

"You two are really a good match."

Lin Xiuhe turned around.

"Where would you find a match?"

"One dared to rent it out, and the other dared to let her keep earning."

"Do you not want your wages for today?"

"Is the boss starting to settle personal scores?"

The three of them finished packing up the last of their belongings, and it was already dark.

The food Zhou Zhiyuan brought was still warm.

He Qiuyan moved a chair into the new house, finally no longer having to make room for guests with her lunchbox every time she heard the gate open.

After finishing her meal, she even patted the old table in front of her.

"Is this one mine?"

"Weren't you only going to work for half a month?"

"We need to have a place to sit even after half a month."

"Okay, you can borrow it first."

"Will wages still be paid?"

"The table is rented separately."

He Qiuyan laughed so hard she almost dropped her chopsticks.

The next morning, Lin Xiuhe opened the doors to both rooms.

Samples and temporary stock have been placed on wooden shelves. The original sales area is used to receive customers, while the adjacent area has been cleared out for storage. The tables are empty, and people no longer need to carry boxes when entering.

Not long after, someone stopped outside the courtyard gate.

The other person looked up at the sign for a long time, then looked at the two doors on the left and right that were open.

"Comrade, which one is the Xinghe Business Department?"

He Qiuyan was wiping the table next door.

She leaned out and pointed to both sides.

Both of them.