My sister broke off her engagement to marry someone richer? My older sister married me and became in

Old Song nodded and placed the red business card under the glass coffee table.

That's called word-of-mouth.

In this era before television existed, word-of-mouth in upscale residential compounds was more effective than any loudspeaker.

Grandma Wang from Building 3 is worrying about what to cook for her grandson for lunch.

Doorbell rang.

Aunt Li from the first floor stood outside the door with an aluminum pot in her hand and lifted the lid.

"Wang Ma, please try this. This soup is so delicious it'll make your eyebrows fall off."

Grandma Wang took a spoonful and her eyes lit up.

"This tastes authentic. Where did you buy it? Is the road near the department store open now?"

Aunt Li pulled the bright red business card out of her pocket.

"What department store? They just crammed it in from all over the streets. It's called Xiushan Industrial. It's right on Zhongshan Road."

Grandma Wang took the business card and put her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Annual subscription? And home delivery?" Grandma Wang looked at that line of text, her fingers tracing the business card.

"Oh my, this solves a big problem. I have trouble walking, and I'm afraid of falling when I go out in this snow. If this can be delivered right upstairs, I'd be willing to pay 190, let alone 99."

Aunt Li nodded in agreement.

"That's right. Look at the first batch they gave us, it's all the right weight and top-quality stuff. It shows the boss is honest and reliable. My husband and I have already discussed it, and as soon as the road is open, we'll order one."

"I'll order too!" Grandma Wang put the business card in her pocket.

"Leave your phone number later, I'll also talk to Old Sun's family upstairs. His wife is about to give birth, and they really need this kind of good stuff to nourish her body."

As long as the product is good, and as long as the first person tries it out, this trust will expand rapidly.

Xiushan Industry didn't spend a single penny to win the game.

They used top-quality goods worth a few hundred yuan to break through the most difficult compound defense line in the provincial capital.

This group of retired cadres and their families, who usually hold their heads high and have to smile obsequiously even department store sales clerks, are now holding the same business card, hoping for a sunny day.

Their concern is no longer whether to buy or not, but whether they can snag a unit.

After all, there are only so many delicacies in Changbai Mountain. What if this top-notch set meal is limited in quantity?

The buzz within the circle continued to rise, creating a powerful, pent-up surge.

Once the floodgates are opened, the entire Zhongshan Road will be submerged.

Lin Xiulan, trapped in the shop, was completely unaware of all this.

She was still worrying while tending the charcoal brazier.

The snowstorm raged for three whole days.

On the morning of the fourth day, the leaden clouds in the sky finally cracked open.

The snowflakes turned into sparse salt particles, which pattered on the ground.

The wind wasn't so stinging to my face anymore.

The snow on Zhongshan Road was above knee-deep.

The dried goods store across the street.

Wu Dafa, wrapped in a heavy military overcoat and holding a chipped purple clay teapot, kicked open his wooden door.

He moved a small stool and sat down casually under the eaves.

Xiao Si, the waiter, was shoveling ice on the steps with a broom.

"Boss Wu, the weather's really cleared up today." Xiao Si, his nose running from the cold, breathed warm air onto his hands. "Can we open for business today?"

Wu Dafa took a sip of hot tea and spat out two tea leaves.

He didn't look at his empty counter; his eyes were fixed on the street across the street.

The gates of Xiushan Industrial Park across the street were tightly closed.

A thick layer of ice ridges hung on the signboard.

"What's the point of opening a business?" Wu Dafa scoffed, grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds. "There's something more exciting than opening a business today."

He cracked open a sunflower seed and spat the shells precisely into the snowdrift.

"Hey Xiao Si, do the math, how many days have those country bumpkins been stuck inside?"

Xiao Si counted on his fingers.

"Including today, it's been four days and four nights in a row. The door hasn't even been opened a crack."

"Four days." Wu Dafa slapped his thigh.

"Ten yuan a day for rent, wages for eight people, plus the goods they gave away for free a few days ago."

He quickly fiddled with the abacus in his mind.

"He's lost at least a thousand yuan. How many coins does a country bumpkin like him have in his pocket? Right now, he probably can't even afford to buy coal briquettes."

Xiao Si stopped sweeping and came over to offer a cigarette.

"Boss, do you think that young wife might have run away with her bedding in the middle of the night?"

Wu Dafa took the cigarette, lit it, and took a puff.

"Run? Where can she run to? All the newly built roads in the forest are blocked by snow, and it won't be open for at least ten days to two weeks."

He exhaled a puff of smoke, his fat face scrunched up.

"This shop is completely bankrupt. Once the snow melts, go to the bank and get me fifty silver dollars in cash."

Xiao Si scratched his head: "What do I need the money for?"

Wu Dafa pointed with his cigarette butt at the shop across the street.

"Go clean up the mess. I've been eyeing those newly made red pine cabinets in their shop for days. They're solid wood, the material is so sturdy."

"And that batch of miscellaneous goods they brought from the mountains. After being exposed to dampness for four days, they're all probably moldy by now. I'll buy them all for fifty yuan."

Xiao Si gave a thumbs up.

"Brilliant! You're truly brilliant, boss! You bought their entire house full of belongings for fifty dollars, and they'll be eternally grateful to you."

Wu Dafa proudly shook his head, the purple clay teapot gleaming from being handled in his hands.

That's the rule in the provincial capital.

Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake, let alone a bunch of bumpkins who don't even know the Chinese almanac.

To establish yourself on Zhongshan Road, passion alone isn't enough. It depends on fate.

It seems that even God is on Wu Dafa's side.

Within a few hours, the young woman would have to open the door, crying and begging, to sell the shop.

Then I can put on airs and forcefully lower the price.

"Outsiders are outsiders." Wu Dafa spat out the sunflower seed shells, stood up, and patted the crumbs off his trousers.

"Want to do business in the provincial capital? He'd better be lucky! Just wait, we'll go see the show first thing tomorrow morning!"

He turned and went inside, rummaging through drawers and cabinets looking for an abacus.

Xiao Si continued shoveling snow outside the door, humming a little tune intermittently.

The wind on Zhongshan Road has stopped.

The thick clouds completely dispersed.

The first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, stinging the snow on the street and making it hard to open one's eyes.

A deep rumble came from the end of the street corner.

Two municipal snowplows, painted yellow, rolled over the road.

The wide main road is gradually revealing its original asphalt surface.